Sterling Silver Cubic Zirconia Ring, help! I ruined two silver rings :-(
I did something stupid. I put two sterling silver rings in a container of
liquid sterling silver jewelry cleaner { Hagerty brand I believe}
Well, not only did I leave it soaking too long- I accidentally caused the
antiquing to come off!
These rings were not expensive- Sterling silver with marcasite and cubic
zirconia. It was given an aged effect with the antiquing so that it had the
appearance of rings from the 1920's.
Despite the fact that they were inexpensive they were very lovely
rings-emphasis on WERE. :-(
Now what do I do? Is there any way to buy a product to apply a new 'antique
finish' on them?
Dont worry the rings are not ruined. The antiquing can be reapplied.
one way is to get liver of sulfur and brush it over the piece. Then when the
ring is black rinse off the solution. Then polish the higher profile areas
with a very fine grit of of steel wool or a polishing wheel. the ring will
still need about a month to achieve a good affect. or you could just let
the ring naturaly antique by just wearing it an a natural patina will
develope.
There are various chemicals that can be used to patinate silver. The
following works quite well to give a bluey-grey/black: get a small
quantity of ammonium hydrosulphide and paint it on the silver - the
longer you leave it on, the darker it gets. It stinks like rotten
eggs, so its best to do it in the open air.