Jewelry Fashion Reports
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Black beauty
Darkened metals make a sultry return to jewelry showcases
By Cheryl Kremkow
November 23, 2009
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Designer Sarah Graham was working as an apprentice goldsmith back in 1998 when she spotted an antique necklace with diamonds and pearls that sparkled like stars against velvety black metal. One look and she was hooked.
"I asked what it was, and the jeweler told me it was anodized steel," Graham recalls.
Hoping to duplicate the dramatic color in her own work, Graham learned it wasn't possible to anodize steel. Undeterred, she turned to her casting house, Techform in Portland, Ore., which also cast cobalt chrome implants for the medical industry. She experimented with a pile of sample joints and implants in the hard, steel-like alloy until one day, a recipe of heat and bleach yielded the same deep matte black of that bewitching antique.
At Graham's first show, the Buyers Market for American Craft in Philadelphia in 2000, she filled most of her showcases with more conventional jewelry, stowing 10 black oxidized cobalt chrome pieces in a corner. Her first order was $8,000-all black. Many others followed. A business, and a jewelry trend, was born.
Blackened metal first appeared in galleries via artists like Pat Flynn, who started contrasting iron and steel with diamond and platinum as early as 1986.
"I really liked the contrast of the patina with the diamonds: precious and non-precious," Flynn says.
Back in black
Today, blackened metal has moved from a corner of the jewelry industry to its center showcase.
Blackened silver, blackened steel, unique blackened alloys, and even black gold and platinum are now Couture show staples. At the recent JA New York Summer Show, blackened metal styles had migrated from the designer aisles into the showcases of more traditional companies.
"It's chic, it's affordable, it's so different and it's quite sexy really," says Julie Ettinger of Ylang-Ylang in St. Louis, Mo. "We have it front and center in our window display right now. The sell-through has been incredible."
There are four major reasons for the trend. First, blackened silver is a way for luxury lines to layer in sterling styles without diluting brand prestige. Black says fashion, not just affordability. Second, blackened metal provides a dramatic backdrop for gemstones. Third, blackened pieces mix well with white or yellow metal-even high-karat gold. Lastly, since black apparel is a stylish woman's staple, it slips easily into everyday wardrobes.
Nicole Gorman of I. Gorman Jewelers in Washington, D.C., expects to add to the store's blackened steel, oxidized silver and blackened gold options thanks to their widespread appeal.
"It's funny, it ranges from the young and hip to the more mature customer-it depends on the designer," Gorman says. "Black creates a more casual look. It can be bold, funky and playful or more refined."
Methods and materials
The most commonly blackened jewelry metal is silver, but different processes create various effects.
Designers usually craft what is commonly called "oxidized silver" by exposing silver to liver of sulfur, a mixture of potassium sulfides that lends silver a soft, gray-to-black hue.
Plating silver with black rhodium can create a high-polished black surface, although results depend on the original surface's texture. A third technique involves plating with ruthenium, another platinum group metal that is more charcoal gray but takes on different colors depending on the surface texture.
Both ruthenium and black rhodium plating can be used on any metal, including gold, platinum, even copper. Tiffany & Co. recently launched a new version of Elsa Peretti's signature "Bone Cuff" in charcoal ruthenium over copper, retailing for $395 (it's $650 in sterling).
Lika Behar, a designer who often combines darkened silver with 22-karat gold, offers both black rhodium and sulfur-oxidized black pieces.
"I like the look of liver of sulfur better, it's more organic, but it isn't as practical," Behar says. "Some customers prefer black rhodium."
Artistry, Ltd. plates its charcoal gray sterling silver links with ruthenium, which the company's Laura Klemt says "is harder than gold and more durable."
Patricia Tschetter of Tschetter Studio, who has used the liver of sulfur process for her last several oxidized sterling collections, launched a new collection in blackened steel at the JA New York Summer Show.
"I'm using a selenium toner from the photo industry on the steel to get the color," she says.
And Graham's oxidized cobalt chrome isn't the only unusual black alloy. Yossi Harari mixes 25 percent gold and 75 percent silver then blackens it, calling it "gilver."
New designer Okomido employs a centuries-old alloy of gold and copper called shakudo, which was originally used for Japanese sword fittings and is treated to create a dark chocolate patina designed to look better with age.
"It gets burnished over time... and becomes an expression of the wearer," says designer Midori Ferris Wayne.
Tips: Wear and care
Most blackened styles are protected with wax or lacquer, but the dark surface-only cover will eventually wear away.
- Black rhodium, the plating of choice for blackened silver chains, is more durable than sulfur-blackened styles but can still scratch or chip so it may need to be re-plated, just like rhodium-plated white gold. Ask designers about returning pieces for resurfacing.
- Most oxidized sterling styles are protected by beeswax, which is gradually dissolved by soap. Designer Page Sargisson says periodically applying Nivea hand lotion to seal in the oxidation works well.
- Raised elements or texture help protect the surface and allow darkened metals to age gracefully. For pieces like Okomido's shakudo styles, wearing creates a "living finish" meant to enhance the piece's look.
- To prepare collectors for burnishing, Sarah Graham uses a card that shows a photograph of a worn-in ring, detailing how the texture of the surface becomes more apparent as the top layer wears.
Cheryl Kremkow (cheryl@citrinemedia.com) is the director of online strategy agency Citrine Media, and former editor of Modern Jeweler.
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