Copper is the
most versatile and durable of all metals and has been called "man’s
eternal metal". It’s an amazing material for all kind of jewelry, and will
last really long if it’s carefully stored. However, copper turns green after long
exposure to air and moisture. Sometimes copper jewelry turns your skin
green. It's known as the oxidation reaction. The copper reacts with oxygen in
the air, your sweat and skin oils, creating a green layer of copper carbonate
on your skin. It shouldn't be anything to be concerned about, it just looks
terrible. Most likely you're not allergic to the copper, very few people are.
Simply keep your copper clean and dry and remove any oil or sweat which may be
on your jewelry.
When it comes
to jewelry wire, copper is relatively soft and very easy to work with. It easily
oxidizes with liver of sulfur or even hard broiled eggs and it looks really
stylish and antique-like. Because copper is soft and when it is used in shawl
pins is very important to harden the metal so your shawl pin will last.
If
you make a shawl pin:
Hardening can be done by twisting the
wire beforehand, or hammering shawl pin or its parts. If you have a tumbler run
2-3 hour cycles with your shawl pin. Some designs require additional fine
wrapping which provides some character as well as holding all components
together. File all tool mars and sharp edges so the shawl wearer will not have
any damage on her garment.
If
you buy a shawl pin: Just by looking at the picture, you
can see whether it was hammered or not. Don’t hesitate to ask the artist how durable
that is. Depends on the shawl pin design, but many of those need to be locked
and unlocked many times and be able to pierce some heavy or dense knitted garments
and it’s very important for this piece of jewelry to preserve its shape so you
will always enjoy wearing it. Don’t worry if your copper shawl pin looks dull
after some time, store it in air-tight plastic bag. Use a jewelry polish cloth
to bring it back to shine, or simply clean it with lemon juice or ketchup,
rinse it off with warm water.
You can see
my copper shawl pins here.