Surface finishes- a short guide

Everyone knows the obvious way to finish stirling silver— that awesome high mirror shine polish. I do alot of this, but it’s not my favourite way of finishing. Here are some other ways that I like to finish my silver jewellery.

Mirror Polish on the Stem Cell pendant

I love the high polish on these pieces, particularly with the felt in the “nuclei” of the “cells”

OXIDATION: This is the process of blackening the surface of the silver, this is really a process where you take the oxidation (or tarnishing, as most people would think it!) of the surface to completion. I love this treatment, I like the blackened look. However, it also is great to highlight texture on silver, as you can blacken the metal, and then partially repolish the surface. This is a common technique. I use a special solution, but actually, you can do it with eggs and a sealed container (because there is sulfur in eggs, and this causes tarnish!). The only drawback is that it is not a permanent finish, and on areas that it contacts skin, or rubs against other surfaces, it will eventually wear. Also, in very humid environments, and depending on your skin chemistry, it can wear faster or slower. The good news is, that it’s fairly easy to renew the finish! And I seal the surface of my pieces, which also helps to prolong the life of the patina.

Oxidation and the M pendant

I love the contrast between the dark silver surface and the teal felt. The darkened surface really helps the colour of the felt pop!

MATTE: Not everyone likes such a high shine on their jewellery, and it can make it hard to discern detail in alot of pieces. One option is to go for a natural silver finish, that is matte. Here, the piece is finished to the same high quality as to achieve a mirror polish, but then I rub it with very fine sand paper, to take the shine off again. I like to use this alot. It gives a nice soft silver sheen to the surface, and really allows the design to shine.

Matte finish on my spillage ring

If you look closely, you can see the difference between the shine on the inside surface of the ring, and the matte finish of the surface of the ring.

SAND BLASTING: This is a kind of matte finish, but adds an additional appearance of texture. The piece is finished to a high polish, and then a special machine with glass or stone (our machine uses ruby!) particles is used to bombard the surface of the metal, cutting into the surface, and giving it the characteristic texture.

Sandblasting on RBC half hoop earrings

Sandblasting gives an almost sparkle to the surface of these earrings, giving them a different look to many other pieces.

I love being able to finish things in different ways, it helps bring an additional dimension to jewellery. How about you? What’s your favourite finish?