How do I create oxidized sterling silver jewelry?

Yup it's pretty easy to give sterling silver jewelry an antique look by oxidizing the silver. Oxidizing adds great depth and character to your new jewelry, and lets you enjoy the vintage jewelry look without having to raid all the vintage shops in your area to find a piece of jewelery you like. All you need is a simple oxidizing agent to tarnish the metal. The best oxidizing agents for silver are a regular hard boiled egg, liver of sulfur (also known as sulfurated potash), which you can order from any jewelry making supplier, such as Rio Grande or Contenti (just look them up online for more information), or plain oven heat. Try all the methods and see which results you like best. If using a hard boiled egg, start by taking your piece of silver jewelry, say a sterling silver necklace, and rub the mashed hard boiled egg on the silver. Let it sit for quite some time, until you see the silver starting to darken and tarnish. If you are using liver of sulfur, use a cloth to rub the liquid into your silver necklace, and let it sit for a while. Use a generous amount of the oxidizing substance for the best results. Once the silver has reached the desired color, rinse the necklace thoroughly with clean water to get the oxidizing substances off. Next, remove the excess tarnish with a tarnish remover, leaving the dark oxidized effect in the crevices and niches of your jewelry. Alternately, rub the silver with very fine grade steel wool to remove the excess tarnish. Your newly antiqued silver necklace is ready to wear!

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