New tin cup project

This is SOT (sorry about that). I had a disassembled japanese Kasumi Pink CFWP Pearl strand (Belpearl) with the "smoother" surface. When I was in Puerto Rico I found rose gold plated sterling silver all over the place, and thought what a great match for the Kasumi, I found out later it was not "Rose Gold Plating", do this day I still don't know what they did to the silver to get that pinkish color?I doubt it was an addition of more copper. I remain puzzled. BOT: All these examples of Black Rhodium Plated and Antiqued silver with Tahitians are stellar ideas!
 
Katbran I am enchanted by your blue green oxidized silver chain!
 
Pattye - regarding the colour - I usually do as you do..darken it and then polish it up. This time I was trying to catch the colour just after the initial 'bronze' tone - so I dipped it for 30 seconds and rinsed then repeated until it looked right. there are flashes of the 'bronze/gold' tones still there..mainly on the inside of the links. I've never tried the Ammonia - having read mixed reviews of the results.. But this is the only 'colour' other than grey/black that I've achieved.

CathyKeshi - Thank you ! I must admit I'm smitten by it as well lol

BPD- I wonder what they did ... I'd love to see pink silver !
 
BPD I've asked about pink silver on a precious metal forum. One of the active members of that is from the London Assay Office so if it is around it will have been through there.
 
Okay, initial possibilities are:
shibuichi -traditional Japanese alloys - usually 25% silver/75% copper, but it can go down to around 4%.
Rubedo, a Tiffany thing - that had some gold in it, but so little as to be barely worth mentioning (unless writing marketing blurb for Tiffany
and I've just remembered that Honora bronze alloy they brought out about a year ago
 
Katbran, The deep blue green chain is fab! When I do my patina on sterling with LOS, I go for the darkest it will go and then give it a high polish. I've read one can achieve cool colors with a few drops of ammonia. Have you done other color variations?

You can get some nice colours with LoS and ammonia but you need to go slow, doing several dips and cooling the metal between, so you can stop it at just the right time. I particularly like to do this with textured metals, since you get more of an iridescent effect. Similar to ammonia (since it is also alkaline), you can use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). This is finicky and I haven't quite controlled all the factors yet so I can't give much detail other than encourage you to experiment as well.

Another cool patina is to add a little instant coffee to LoS. The smell is gag inducing (sulfurous coffee, how delicious) but you get darker blue-greens or bright blues, depending on temperature, time and coffee concentration.
 
Lady D - Wow I never heard of adding coffee! And I should try the ammonia - I do tend to go slowly with the process anyway - I only dip for 20-30 seconds and then remove etc I've also used the Soda as a rinse between dips..but I might add some to the LoS and see what happens. I should actually read up on this..rather than winging it as usual lol

Wendy - thanks for the info..I'll have to read up on those metals..I always thought that the Shibuichi was a bonded metal but not sure why I think that :)
 
Katbran- I fear hijacking this thread and turning into the "Pink" Convo.

I read up a bit on the Rubedo (and bought a piece to see what it was all about) ages ago, I book marked the article back then (interesting read):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/f...-stirs-debate-over-meaning-of-metal.html?_r=0

Wendy- I won't say anymore on this taking it off topic, so thanks for the info Wendy!!! I wish I had thought to buy a few more pieces in Puerto Rico, or inspect them even more closely!


Okay, initial possibilities are:
shibuichi -traditional Japanese alloys - usually 25% silver/75% copper, but it can go down to around 4%.
Rubedo, a Tiffany thing - that had some gold in it, but so little as to be barely worth mentioning (unless writing marketing blurb for Tiffany
and I've just remembered that Honora bronze alloy they brought out about a year ago
 
This is all so fascinating, I think a whole new thread could be made just discussing all of the "alchemy" y'all are doing :) So interesting.

You can get some nice colours with LoS and ammonia but you need to go slow, doing several dips and cooling the metal between, so you can stop it at just the right time. I particularly like to do this with textured metals, since you get more of an iridescent effect. Similar to ammonia (since it is also alkaline), you can use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). This is finicky and I haven't quite controlled all the factors yet so I can't give much detail other than encourage you to experiment as well.

Another cool patina is to add a little instant coffee to LoS. The smell is gag inducing (sulfurous coffee, how delicious) but you get darker blue-greens or bright blues, depending on temperature, time and coffee concentration.
 
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A simple 22" tin cup made with Tahitian drops and a 2.3 mm rolo chain in 14k yg. I made this after dinner last night. The colors don't really show too well in these photos...will try to take more.
 
You whipped that up after dinner? My goodness, you necklace-making skills are my envy! :rolleyes:

Well done, it's beautiful, and you're so good about posting what you have been creating with those gorgeous Mangareva drops! Thank you!
 
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JerseyPearl, that's beautiful and very close to what I want to make (one of these days). I am striving to make a longer 30-36" tin cup with tahitians. I've been doing a lot of browsing on ebay lately looking, but not sure what I'm looking for. Your necklace gives me something to aim for. Thank you! Love your work!
 
JerseyPearl, your pearl jewelry making adventure just keeps getting better and better! Love the model :) Jac's gorgeous pearls don't hurt any either ...
 
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