I don’t make copper jewelry for that exact reason. It may be cheap
to work in but the draw backs are not worth it. There are a few
exceptions to that. You will find people who swear a copper bracelet
will cure their arthritis.
The coatings I tell people about for my copper ornaments are many
and varied. I make thousands of ornaments a year. In old times before
modern coatings, bee’s wax was rubbed in and polished to a nice
shine. Today the cheapest and easiest to get is hair spray. But sadly
the hairspray will flake of after one usage if used as jewelry. Next
is the kiln fired micro ceramics. To expensive for me to get into,
since I’m a one person shop.
You can buy the dip like coatings from places like Rio and a few
others.
Last there is the spray Krylon gloss acrylic. It too will eventually
wear off.
What you have to worry about is no matter what you tell the people,
they will tell you they have an allergy to copper, and in some
instances will the turning of their skin green to prove they molded.
(yes it has happened). I tell everyone that the ornaments are not
intended for personal jewelry usage. Yet to this day I’m still
wondering. One man dressed in goth attire, came up and bought three
ornaments. He disappeared for about 20 minutes then came back wearing
one in his ear. The other he showed me was in his belly button. I
asked about the third, and he just smiled.
One of the biggest laughs is when I tell people the best copper
cleaner is ketchup. They need to tell the folks at McDonalds they
want copper cleaner with their fries.
If you continue to make jewelry in copper, be aware there is nothing
you can do that will please even half of the customers you get. They
will not like the tarnish of copper and the green skin. Then the
coatings themselves will be more of an irritant. Earrings with silver
ear wires are your best bet. It’s just a nightmare that you don’t
need. Silver is more expensive by far, but you will not encounter the
problems or have it returned for turning the skin green.
Aggie Wondering how the mountain top got to 100F last night.