Hello, brand new to this thread!

[SportsmanAll]

I got myself a small nugget this fall, first one ever! It’s my personal best find, and I’m so used to flower gold that this one almost knocked me over! But I’m looking at getting it cleaned up a bit. I don’t necessarily want it perfectly cleaned, i’d like to retain some of its personality. But I have no idea how to go about cleaning it. Any help would be super helpful!

 

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[Rookster]

Welcome to Tnet .

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Nice gold. I don't see any reason to mess with it.
If you want to brighten the gold..use jewelry cleaner solution.
Tooth brush and hot soap and water to get any dirt off.

The dark colored host rock would have to be dissolved away using acid if you wanted just gold.

I like it! What part of the world?

 

[delnorter]

Welcome SportsmanAll. Nice gold. Show us after cleaning if you do so.

Mike

 

[SportsmanAll]

I ended up putting it in a salt/vinegar bath for three days. I’ll let you guys know if it helps it out. I don’t want it perfect by any means. But I’d like to have a ring made for it. So I’d like it a little brighter and cleaner. Something like this.

 

[arizau]

I'm thinking that buffing it on rotary cloth buffer wheel would help to highlight the gold color without losing much of it's character, that being the black spots(?).

 

[delnorter]

That’s a nice ring SA. Did you make it yourself or have it custom made?

I had a nice ring made by a fellow prospector a few years ago. I had it made from gold I found; fines for the ring with a nugget set in the side and centered with the ivory whistler of an elk I bagged for the winter.

Mike

 

[SportsmanAll]

That’s a nice ring SA. Did you make it yourself or have it custom made?

I had a nice ring made by a fellow prospector a few years ago. I had it made from gold I found; fines for the ring with a nugget set in the side and centered with the ivory whistler of an elk I bagged for the winter.

Mike

I considered throwing my elk ivory from this year in the ring too but I want the nugget to be centerpiece! And no this ring is just a reference photo from online. I want to have my nugget made into a ring like that picture.

 

[Tahoegold]

If you're going to make it into a ring, why not ask the Jewler to suggest how to clean it up?

 

[SportsmanAll]

If you're going to make it into a ring, why not ask the Jewler to suggest how to clean it up?

Went there yesterday. They had no experience working with raw gold. Their only suggestion was to take it to a dremel grinder/buffer which would have removed gold. And it’s not that big in the first place! So I’m staying away from that.

 

[Tahoegold]

Without knowing what is the substance with the Gold, I woul try to find a better answer from someone who's a pro at cleaning raw gold. What you have is a gem quality piece. Why leave it up to chance and degrade it's value, right? Maybe that jeweler wasn't familiar, but, some are.
Don't give up trying to find one.

 

[mikep691]

Can I recommend a goldsmith?
He's in the heart of the Ca. mother lode gold country and does excellent work. Look him up on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.wandt
He can help with all your gold questions

 

[Bodfish Mike]

Here's a couple of links
cleaning-gold-CLR
and
cleannuggets

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Can I recommend a goldsmith?
He's in the heart of the Ca. mother lode gold country and does excellent work. Look him up on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.wandt
He can help with all your gold questions

Do you have an E-Mail for Steve that you can PM me?
I don't do FB and can't see any photos of his work.

 

[SportsmanAll]

Can I recommend a goldsmith?
He's in the heart of the Ca. mother lode gold country and does excellent work. Look him up on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.wandt
He can help with all your gold questions

Thanks! Will do!

 

[delnorter]

Mike691, Steve is who made the ring for me. Nice guy and easy to work with. He cast a number of examples before we settled on the style for my wife’s ring.

Mike

 

[Clay Diggins]

Can I recommend a goldsmith?
He's in the heart of the Ca. mother lode gold country and does excellent work. Look him up on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.wandt
He can help with all your gold questions

Steve is good. He's made a lot of native gold jewelry.

Heavy Pans

 

[SportsmanAll]

Mike691, Steve is who made the ring for me. Nice guy and easy to work with. He cast a number of examples before we settled on the style for my wife’s ring.

Mike

I’m located in Idaho. A ways from California. How would he cast and size and such?

 

[mikep691]

Do you have an E-Mail for Steve that you can PM me?
I don't do FB and can't see any photos of his work.

Let me see if he has a website. I have a snow day at the Lake and will check later tonight.

 

[mikep691]

Do you have an E-Mail for Steve that you can PM me?
I don't do FB and can't see any photos of his work.

Just got a message from Steve. He doesn't have a website but has some pictures on instagram. You can look up his name there. Unfortunately for us, he's considering retiring from gold smithing soon and isn't taking on more business.