murano ring

November 4, 2005 1:35 PM

beautiful murano ring -- broken...

I've recently got a murano ring (all glass) which my 2yr old daughter thought could play volleyball with. Result: broken part of the arc is now missing (about 1/3 of an inch of the bottom part). My question is how can I salvage the ring? Could for instance a glass-blower add the missing piece?

posted by carmina to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (2 answers total)

I've done some lampwork as well as off hand glass blowing and my guess would be that unless it was something spectacular - it would be more expensive to fix what you have then to just buy a new ring. If you really like glass - check out http://www.urbanglass.org/ - take some classes and maybe you could fix it yourself. It's addicting. Or if it is something of value (most of the murano rings I've seen have been under 50 bucks) give them a call and see if they have any suggestions.
posted by Wolfie at 2:31 PM on November 4, 2005

This might work but you will lose the look of a soild circle of glass.

There is a modeling clay that is nearly all silver once it is baked in your oven. It is call Precious Metal Clay. PMC is on the package label.

Some craft retailers carry it or you can Froogle it.

You can make a connector that goes over the break and covers each side of the break. You can even add some "extra" decoration if you feel creative.

This can be baked in your oven following package directions. The modeling compound burns away and leaves the metal in place. May shrink a little, just make sure it extends over the break a bit. the directions may address this.

Glass in a ring like that can't be reworked and left in the same shape. It needs to fuse at melting temps. Then needs to anneal or it will shatter.

Glass will not melt in a household oven, it takes much higher temperatures.

Hope this helps. Mary
posted by moonlily at 6:31 AM on November 5, 2005