Keeping blackened silver black

Jewelry Discussion
1

The majority of posts have to do with keeping polished silver from
tarnishing. Well, I’m about to turn the tables. How can I keep
blackened silver black? I’ve been making silver work that is
blackened and some clients have balked because they fear the black
will wear off (which it will if they wear it a lot), especially the
rings. So, I’d like to offer them a trick that they can use to keep
the work black. I’d love to have some product that fits in a box or
baggie that the client could just store the item in and it would
recolor whatever silver was exposed from wear, but even homespun
methods are acceptable as long as it isn’t gross and/or smelly.

Any ideas?

Larry Getting ready for the Charlotte NC ACC show in a couple of
weeks and finding myself in a cash flow and time management
crunch…man, I hate it when that happens

2

You might try experimenting. Putting the item in a plastic bag with
something rubber (rubber band, eraser, etc.) SHOULD do it.
Unfortunately, many ‘rubber’ articles today are really plastic, which
probably will not work. David Barzilay, Lord of the Rings

David Barzilay
Lord of the Rings
607 S Hill St Ste 850
Los Angeles, CA 90014-1718
213-488-9157

3

You may have smelled the remnants of the cutting oil used to cut the
geode. Petroleum has a pretty high sulphur content from a lot of
the crude oil sources, and whatever oil mix used to cut that rock
may have had enough sulphur to do the trick. The conditions that
made the black persistent are your best guess.

Ron Charlotte – Gainesville, FL
@Ron_Charlotte1 OR afn03234@afn.org