Jewelry

[FancyPhillyshopper]

I admire you ladies and your silver jewelry experiences! 

I have neither the time nor the patience to care for silver jewelry the way it needs to be cared for (I hate polishing off tarnish), so that is why I stick to gold, but I certainly think that silver glow is very pretty and special!

[Bookplate]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@Bookplate wrote:

A very slightly different  version is to hardboil an egg, and when it is cool enough just crack one end and put the whole egg in  the baggie with the jewelry.  I check it periodically, and take the piece out when it reaches the desired color.   Its a good idea if the piece of jewelry does not come into direct contact with the egg, I believe, in order to keep the oxidation consistent.

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@Bookplate   I don't see how that would work since the Sulphur is in that dark greenish layer that surrounds the yolk.  Since the white seals the yolk off, I don't see how the Sulphur could escape.

I always make sure the egg doesn't touch the silver. 

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Well, it does work but it can take an hour or two, so perhaps keeping the egg whole slows down the process of allowing the sulfur fumes to escape.  Next time I need to do this I will try your method and see if it goes faster. A friend says she smashes the egg but leaves the shell on.  Bottom line is:  some form of broken hard boiled egg plus baggie plus sterling equals oxidation process.

[songbird]

Silver tarnishes becasue of copper in the silver.  It reacts to Sulphur in the air.  Result is tarnish.  Any place that very humid  will make silver tarnish quicker. So your silver is probably cooking right now, LOL. Ultrafine silver has less copper in it.  Less chance it will react to sulphur (which is everywhere) 

[Shanus]

I have a small bottle of sulfur (jewelry grade) that you can purchase at Michael's. Brush it on, hold the piece next to a light bulb (that's on, Lol) and the slight heat activates the sulfur. Hold the piece close to the bulb until the desired amount of oxidation is achieved.  

[Kachina624]

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@FancyPhillyshopper wrote:

I admire you ladies and your silver jewelry experiences! 

I have neither the time nor the patience to care for silver jewelry the way it needs to be cared for (I hate polishing off tarnish), so that is why I stick to gold, but I certainly think that silver glow is very pretty and special!

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@FancyPhillyshopper  I have a lot of silver and rarely have to polish it except to remove oils and smudges.  I keep it all in anti-tarnish boxes, and of course anything worn constantly doesn't tarnish.  I have a set of bangles I never remove, and in 20 years of wearing them, they've never been polished.  They're bright and shiny. 

[GoneButNotForgotten]

nice hack, but you shouldn't have to work on jewelry that should have been properly finished in the first place.

[depglass]

Shanus, your post reminds me of my summer camp days.  We used something called "liver of sulpher" to oxidize the copper pieces we were making.  I guess silver was too expensive to hand out to the campers even back then.  Late 50's.  

[Carolina925]

@Kachina624 , thanks for that tip; I'd never heard that and I do have some old jewelry that has lost its oxidation. Your pendant is beautiful; wear it in good health 

[SaggingGal]

Who knows what residual chemicals, abrasives, varnishes from the manufacture of the pendant were on its surface? This residue mixed with the egg to create a chemical reaction inside a plastic bag could have poisoned your dogs. Not a humane hack in the least.

[GinaV24]

that's very cool @Kachina624 .  I'm glad that it made the pendant (which I like too) look just the way you wanted it.

It's a shame you had to do that extra work but hey the dogs got an egg out of it so they are happy.

One of my dogs would eat anything. The other one was more particular. I was baking one day and managed to spill flour on the floor. There she was, licking it up. I remember saying to her - that can't taste great!

An egg she would have been thrilled to get.