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| Author | Topic: Different colors of silver ? |
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cbc58 Posts: 333 |
posted 12-18-2016 01:27 PM
  
Why do some pieces of sterling silver have a grayish tint to them, while others are more tinny looking ? IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 12-18-2016 07:39 PM
Could it be tarnish, or are both pieces freshly polished? IP: Logged |
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cbc58 Posts: 333 |
posted 12-19-2016 09:10 AM
grayish:  vs. tinnish: would there be a way to get the tinnish looking silver to look grayish? Also, does anyone have any experience using Hermans or Blitz polish? IP: Logged |
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cbc58 Posts: 333 |
posted 12-19-2016 09:12 AM
note: I pulled these images of pieces [snip] off of the web... IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 12-19-2016 09:55 AM
Post your own examples.. photographed at the same time/camera/lighting be sure to include the marks. Right now your example is most likely showing different lighting color temperature. Also photo editing can adjust the color of the image. IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 12-19-2016 10:06 AM
Your photo of the basket is black & white (grey scale). The bowl is a color photo (RGB). Here are both in black & white (grey scale): IP: Logged |
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asheland Posts: 935 |
posted 12-19-2016 10:55 AM
I think I know what you're referring to. From what I understand, the grayish look is associated with handmade pieces and is likely firescale. My older pieces and my single piece of Martele have the look. It's from the repeated annealing. IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 12-19-2016 11:53 AM
If you're looking at two pieces in person, and one looks slightly yellowish/brownish while the other looks white-gray, there's a good chance the whiter/grayer one has been polished or washed more recently. When tarnish is first forming, it has a yellowish/brownish cast. You can wash off the brownish color, leaving only white, untarnished surface and gray/black tarnished surface. IP: Logged |
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cbc58 Posts: 333 |
posted 12-19-2016 11:58 AM
Tks for the replies. The gray scale photo adjustment makes sense in some instances, but there is a distinct difference in color when looking at some items in person. The comment on tarnish life-cycle may explain it and I guess I wanted to know if there was something that professional silver restorers use that make things look rich and lustrous like the first pic., or if there was a physical metal characteristic attributable to the difference. Had asked and additional question on polishes: Hermans and Blitz to see if anyone has any experience with them. Tks [This message has been edited by cbc58 (edited 12-19-2016).] IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 12-19-2016 02:30 PM
In addition to the good answers you have already received, another possible reason is silverware are not actually made of pure silver. That would be way too soft and it would bend in your hands. The silver used in silverware is actually a alloy of different metals that include a majority of silver and a minority of other metals such as copper and sometimes other metals. For example, sterling silver is only 92.5 percent actual silver, the rest is copper or sometimes other metals. Coin silver can be pretty much any indefinite percentage mix, but it typically somewhere around 85 percent to 95 percent silver and the rest copper and other metals. 800 silver is just 80 percent silver and 20 percent copper and other metals. These other metals that are used to create the silver alloy used in silverware can impart slight color differences and these can be enhanced as the metal oxidizes (called tarnishing) and develops a patina over the decades and centuries. These differences tend to be fairly slight, but the more you look at silver the more you might see them. IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 12-19-2016 11:17 PM
I really like the bluish cast that Old Sheffield Plate acquires. I really do not know why it seems bluer than the color on old sterling items as old sterling just seems to be a little greyer with only a hint of the blue overtones. Since Old Sheffield Plate is just sterling bonded to copper it seems that they should age the same way so I maybe just imagining that there is a difference. I do think another factor that adds to the patina of old silver are the many surface scratches on it caused by years of use. These random scratches do something in diffusing the reflected light off a silver object that nothing else can do. Old objects that are buffed lose this factor and only time and use can restore the aged look. I am not familiar with the silver polish that you mention. I usually just use Wrights Silver Polish and it seems to work, but the ones you mention appear to be fine polishers. My wife by chance was just reading an old southern Kentucky cookbook that has section on helpful hints for the home keeper. For cleaning silver they recommend putting the silver object in a tin pan and cover it with sour buttermilk. Let stand for one hour and then rinse with hot water. I have no idea what this does, but I would not recommend it for items that you really cherish. IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 12-20-2016 11:00 AM
awht, interesting about the buttermilk. When I make waffles, I often use a Wood & Hughes soup ladle to ladle the batter into the waffle iron, and the lower half--the part with the bowl and part of the handle; that is, the part that sits in the batter--is noticeably less tarnished in the crevices. I use buttermilk in my waffle recipe. IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 12-21-2016 12:41 AM
Great observation Polly. I think many of these old household hints worked and in this case maybe too well if it takes the tarnish away from the crevices. This process may be akin to dipping processes of today. IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 12-21-2016 01:45 PM
The waffle-batter treatment is fairly subtle. It doesn't strip off ALL the crevice tarnish, just reduces it. Maybe I'll try buttermilking the handle, to even out the ladle. IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 12-22-2016 10:58 AM
The subject of color is very technical and can be heady scientific. To start simply... The color of an object is the result of the spectrum of a light source shining on an object and the objects ability to absorb some of the light or reflect a certain spectrum of light into the eye. Also the shape of the reflecting surface and the angle of incidence of the light source to the surface can also have an effect on what the eye sees. Then there are the biological issues of what the individual eye is able to detect. Humans can see light from red (wavelength around 700nm) through all the colors of the rainbow to violet (at 400nm). Other animals see things differently; for example rain deer can see UV light (wavelength around 350–320nm). Sterling which is a mixture of 925 pure silver and 75 parts other metals (typically copper), reflects light differently than the same object which has been silverplated (999 pure silver). IP: Logged |
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seaduck Posts: 350 |
posted 12-22-2016 07:10 PM
Scott-- that's fascinating about the visual difference between sterling and silverplate. Without handling the pieces, could you identify pieces as one or the other just by eye? I've been trying to train my eye for years. It's hard if you don't have access to lots and lots of silver and if when you do see it the lighting condition vary considerably. IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 12-22-2016 09:32 PM
I pretty sure I told this before on the forums but I couldn't find it... A family lost one of two sterling heirloom candle sticks. They decided to have a replacement made. The cost of making the replacement in sterling was too costly so they had it made in a base metal and then silver plated. Side by side the color difference was noticeable. They fixed the issue by having the sterling candle stick silver plated also. IP: Logged |
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