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Cleaning Job

I found this petite point brooch in a bag of beads I picked up in a junk shop, and thought I'd try to clean it up a bit. This is always tricky with vintage pieces, but this one doesn't have a lot of issues other than some soiling and a bit of oxidation on the frame.

The brooch is held together only by four tabs in the back, so it was easy to take apart. I'd say this is a mid 20th century imported piece, although it may be more modern. Just guessing, really.

With some soap, water and a little silver cleaner I was able to remove 99% of the green oxidation residue on the front of the frame. Please note: this is just what I'm doing with something I got for very little money; anything of value should be taken to a vintage jewelry expert to be cleaned. The oxidation damaged the brass plating, however, so now there are black spots. I might be able to paint over the whole thing, but I'd probably lose the tiny beaded detail around the rim, so I'm still brooding on if I should do anything more.

The petite point is really awesome, though -- the embroidery is only a little bigger than my thumb.

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