A Quick Tutorial on Adding Patina to a Copper Ball Chain

I love the warmth of raw copper, it’s very similar to Rose Gold probably because Rose Gold picks up it’s rosiness from Copper :) and with todays  Gold prices copper is VERY affordable. Put a little patina on it and it takes on a calm earthy feel, put a lot of color on it and it takes on the appearance of a relic.  

Today’s blog post shows you how I added a little depth to the copper ball chain I used in last weeks Year of Jewelry post “Charmed I’m Sure”

1: Liver of Sulphur works best if warmed first so I always start by warming some water in the microwave.

2: The metal will take the color faster if it’s clean and warm too so before I add the LOS I drop the chain in the hot water while getting everything ready.

3: Pull the chain out of the water and add a drop or two of the LOS gel.

4: Give it a quick mix and drop your chain back in the LOS mixture. 

It won’t take long at all for the color to appear. 

5: Pull it out to check the color and dunk a time or two, or until you’re happy with it.

6: Rinse it off and buff back the high spots with a little steel wool - I’m using an SOS pad, but you can also use ScotchBrite or 3M products.

If you take it too far back, give it another dunk or two and and start again. Sometimes the color comes up first try and sometimes it takes a couple rounds until you’ve got the depth you’re looking for. 

That’s all there is to it, it’s really very simple. You can play with it some and get a rainbow of colors. I’ve found if you heat your metal and make a weak solution the colors are easier to manage, make sure you seal them once you’re happy though as the patina will continue to darken naturally otherwise.

Week 7 of Year of Jewelry: 

Still on a feather kick with a simple wrap bracelet this week. Turquoise from my favorite purveyor of turquoise MagPie Gemstones, more from my BFF  Moonie, and Coral from House of Gems. Silver hearts and feathers are repurposed from an estate sale find and are most likely plated or “toned”,  vintage seeds (I can verify their age as I bought them new lol) as well as new. A sweet look for an easy on easy off wrap.

Thanks for stopping by!

Dana