TO JEWEL OR NOT TO JEWEL
Often considered to be the last step prior to show and tell, jeweling is in many ways an art form and requires a bit of finesse and refinement. You addressed the imperfections on the surface, perhaps you went through an extensive wet-sanding process just to maximize the clarity of your loved one. You step back to admire the gloss and the defect-free finish, but then you take a glance at your vehicle from afar and look bemused thinking, "Hmm, there's something else that needs to be done." That something else is what's known as "jeweling".
What exactly is jeweling? Within the hierarchy of paint correction, jeweling, by many, is considered to be the final step within the polishing process and is typically referred to as a "3-step polishing process". The intended purpose of jeweling is to extract the most amount of gloss and clarity to your paintwork, thereby leaving behind an almost "wet-looking" aesthetic.
In other words, you're adding the last bit of pop and dimension to your paintwork, whether that's eliminating any last remnants of micro-marring left from both your compounding and polishing stages, or simply introducing an added level of gloss for a truly stunning result. To save myself from any point of contention, let's rule out the possibility of applying any form of a coating, because this process doesn't belong to that category in any way, shape, or form. I'll elaborate on this topic in another dedicated blog.
Ultimately, there are two components to locking-in that extra level of dimension of gloss. First, it's of the utmost importance to work clean. What do I mean by working clean? When it comes to jeweling, employing the use of a clean pad, a clean set of edgeless and plush microfiber towels help to preserve the finish so as not to "chase your own tail", so to speak, forcing you to repeat your polishing stage again.
Chemically speaking, any form of a jeweling polish contains very fine finishing abrasives, which means that when applying it to your paintwork, it should only be massaged into the paintwork at a low polishing speed with only the weight of the polisher applied to the surface.
In conjunction with your polishing speed, your arm speed should follow the same formula; with only a slow to medium arm speed so the micro-abrasives and residual oils left from the polish have an opportunity to sink into the pores of the paint leaving behind that extra layer of reflection.
Now, I'm not a purist when it comes to which polisher you use, because you can achieve great results with either a DA or rotary, just so long as your technique is on point. Not everyone will levitate towards jeweling, nor will a majority of your clients care about pulling out the last bit of gloss onto the paintwork, but for those that are looking to tweak their garage-kept classic or exotic, this may interest them.
If you want to quantify the levels of gloss that had been left from jeweling, and if money is of no object, entertain yourself by purchasing a glossmeter. The amount of gloss is measured up to 100 gloss units (GU), and methodically speaking, a measurement of 97-98 should be achieved if paint correction had been successfully executed.
Below you'll find a set of products that yield great results in the way of jeweling, and I trust that you'll be left with a reflective finish. As always, I'm happy to address any questions you may have about this procedure.
Glossmeter
Polish Angel Escalate Lotion
Renny Doyle Double Black Envy Jeweling Polish
Finishing Pad-DA (Dual-Action Polisher)
Finishing Pad-Rotary
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