Silver necklaces are nice items to have as accessories and their shimmer and shine make them really wonderful looking things to wear around one’s neck. There are times however when the shimmer of silver can be enhanced by the darkness of tarnish and this is what makes antique silver accessories popular among a lot of people. This popularity of antique silver jewelry has actually become so widespread that some silver jewelry manufacturers have come up with silver necklaces, bracelets, rings and even earrings that are made in the fashion of antique accessories and oxidized to make them look old.
If you have certain silver jewelry that have that antique appeal but is shiny and shimmery in its newness, like that silver necklace with beads that you just bought or that intricately handcrafted silver armband that you recently received on your birthday, you can actually oxidize these to make them get that antique look you want. Here is what you will need to do to get your silver necklace to look like time has taken its toll on it. Before you oxidize and age your silver necklace though, a word of precaution since you will be using certain substances that may be somewhat hazardous to you and your health. You will need to wear protective rubber gloves when doing this project and you will need to wear a surgical face mask to help keep yourself from inhaling any of the liver of sulfur dust you may produce with this project.
You will need to bring together supplies and materials which include a pea sized piece of liver of sulfur, plastic tweezers, a plastic spoon, a heat-resistant glass bowl, half a cup of hot water, fine steel wool, paper towels, mild dish soap, rubber gloves and your silver necklace. You will need to put the hot water in your glass bowl and then you will add your pea sized liver of sulfur to this water. Mix with the use of your plastic spoon to dissolve. Be careful not to handle this mixture with your bare hands or to even inhale the fumes that it produces. To ensure safety and to help avoid any possibility of your inhaling these fumes even with your surgical mask on, you should work on this outdoors for better air circulation.
After you have dissolved your liver of sulfur in the water and the water has turned yellow, you will then need to dip your silver necklace in this mixture. Slowly submerge your silver necklace in this yellow liquid with the use of your plastic tweezers. Remove the necklace from the sulfur bath after three seconds and rinse with clean water. Check to see if you got the desired antique look you want with this process. If you want your necklace to turn darker, dip it again in the sulfur and water mixture for another three seconds and repeat the rinsing method. Place on paper towels and then you can now use your steel wool to scrub off parts of the necklace where you want the silver to show. Wash off your necklace after this process and dry off with paper towels and you have a lovely antique looking necklace.
