Old silver jewelry

As we age, silver jewelry or the silverware tends to darken and sometimes take on a color characteristic of old jewels while retaining the shine of silver.

In most cases we try to avoid the oxidation of silver by protecting it from contact with air containing the hydrogen sulphides responsible for its blackening. However, this is only possible when storing your jewelry, so most of the time you need to clean it, which is what most people try to do to maintain the natural silver shine of their jewelry.

However, sometimes it happens that some jewels are more beautiful and enhanced when the silver is blackened. This is especially true for engraved jewellery, where the fineness of the engraving is only visible to the eye thanks to the contrast given by the aged silver next to the polished silver.

How to age silver jewelry?

We have already explained that hydrogen sulphides cause silver jewelery to turn black. This natural reaction takes time depending on the jewelry’s exposure to these chemicals.

In the jewelry workshop, sometimes you may want to give the same blackened look to silver without delay. Using ammonium sulfide on jewelry will completely blacken it where this liquid has acted on the metal. The action of ammonium sulphide is immediate and lasts only a few seconds so it reacts only with the surface layer of silver.

This aging technique will have little benefit on smooth jewelry, however, silver jewelry with reliefs can easily be polished afterwards to remove the layer of oxidized silver from the reliefs. The jewel will then reveal the detail of the engravings and completely transform the jewel.

If you want to learn more about a homemade technique, visit this page that explains how to age your silver jewelry.

Example of a men’s ring in aged silver with engraved Aztec calendar

We were offering for sale this Aztec ring in 925 silver, engraved with the Aztec calendar.

As you can see, the engraving appears blurry, because there is little contrast between the silver of the indentations and the reliefs. Following the request of an Internet user interested in this ring, we aged it and then polished it, you will then be able to see the result on the general appearance of the ring and on the visibility of the engraved calendar.

silver ring before aging

new aztec ring after solid silver aging treatment

On the one hand, we see better the contrasts of ring engraving once aged and furthermore, the silver of the reliefs, having been blackened and then polished, took on a deeper reflection, close to that of ancient jewels.

To achieve the same result naturally, you would have to wait several months for the entire ring to oxidize, then clean it with a jewelry wipe and rub it over the ring’s ridges. We could have achieved a similar result this way.

Here is a video showing how easy it is to age silver jewelry with ammonium sulfate:

Who offers this silver jewelry aging service?

The silver jewelry blackening technique is generally used by jewelers who perform restoration work on antique jewelry. In fact, to repair a jewel that has existed and has already patinated naturally over time, the jeweler will have to alter this surface condition by intervening on the jewel. Soldering, hammering or polishing will completely change the appearance of silver jewelry. Consequently, the jeweler will have to completely clean the jewel to give it a uniform polished appearance and then blacken and polish it until the initial patina appearance is restored.

To find out more about training in jewelery restoration techniques, see the Saumur training institute page with the previous link.

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