I was recently feeling a little ungrounded in my life and not of the temperament to spend a long time on the computer. So rather than spend the last several days working on our website, I took two days to polish all of the silver in our store.
 |
| Beautiful Engraved Antique Silver Link Necklace |
I haven’t done this in a long time. (This is probably true neglect on my part, because silver, while beautiful even without a polish, is deeply stunning with just a little care and attention.)
 |
| Art Nouveau Silver Locket |
And we at Isadora’s are very picky about how we polish our silver as part of the beauty of old pieces is the age they are imbued with represented by patina. “Patina” is when the silver oxidizes and becomes darker with age. I always think silver is twice as pretty with patina.
 |
| Antique Silver Repousse Patch Box |
So when polishing I try to save the majority of the patina, while still shining the largest flat portions of the piece. It is all about polishing with restraint. (The reward for my effort is how incredibly beautiful the jewelry looks.)
 |
| Victorian Diamond Silver & Gold Earrings (In the Georgian & Victorian eras it was popular to set diamond in silver.) |
There is something so lovely about polishing silver. It is a task where I can really see a beautiful, immediate, positive result for my labors.
 |
| British Victorian Silver Bangle |
And in this information age, where many of us spend the majority of our day on a computer, getting to touch beautiful pieces of jewelry, spend time with them and care for them in a way that has not changed in this century or the last, is truly rewarding. Because today, like in yester years, the best way to polish silver is with a cloth and just a touch of elbow grease.
- Miko
No comments:
Post a Comment