Replace it. Your best hope.

Turn it into a nice clock, and buy a new one. I've yet to hear a cymbal sound close to what it originally did after a repair. It can be somewhat close if it's like a 1/4" crack, but I fear yours may have had it.

You can do a couple of things to try to bring out the original sound but you cannot fix the crack by welding or soldering or anything like that so don't even try.

First, drill small holes at the ends of the crack to prevent it from getting bigger.

Second, you can remove material along the length of the crack to stop the broken edges from rubbing against each other when you hit the cymbal. This is probably why you have a trashy sound now. You can remove the material by hand by filing along the crack with a small file. Another way is to use a drill press with a small end mill. Once you punch through the cymbal you can then move and guide the cymbal so that the end mill moves along the length of the crack. Move slowly so as not to break the end mill. Since your crack is near the bell, this might be a difficult process.

Good luck. Would love to see pics if you have them.

drum dad is right, I've got also an old 18" A Zildjian with the same crack description/position and I drilled on each end of the crack but still sound trashy caused by the collision between the crack and I again drilled some more holes with little bit bigger hole between two main drills (each end of crack), the trashy become less but still sound true cymbal not frying pan or corned beef tin sound hahaha...yeah its very hard...regarding near bell and do it manually and just for brushstick slap only (I don't dare to bang it with wood stick) but hey, satisfaction still remains

In my professional and personal opinion I have tried soldering, which does not work at all, and I solder and braze on a regular basis. Drilling helps, but when a crack starts it seperates the tonal grooves of the cymbal and that messes with all the vibration and sustain. I have fixed a few cymbals for myself by punching out crack and then filing the ends to a bluntness. I still use a 18" 2002 black label Paiste crash that has a quarter size hole in it and it still has retained most of it's sound. The closer to the bell the crack is, I have experienced that when I stamp it out, it gains a trashiness more than if at the outside.

If you want, you could send me the cymbal and I can punch it out, or you can find a metal forming business that might have the same machine in your area and be able to help you out.

For what it's worth,

Backbeatkeeper