Question by Charlie: My girlfriend has a pewter pendant that is wearing away probly from sweat. Could I get it dipped in silver?
My girlfriend has a pewter pendant that is wearing away probly from sweat. Could I get it dipped in silver to solve the problem? If so what kind of jewelry store would do it?
Best answer:
Answer by koyzun
Pewter is a soft metal and it gets dented and scratched easily. What you mean by wear is probably due to long term handling and contact with the human body, with a little help from the sweat. It doesn’t wear because of sweat alone but it will tarnish (oxidize) quickly because of it. The constant contact and friction with the human skin will remove this oxide layer, thus resulting in wearing.
Coating it in silver will not help. In fact silver tarnishes much more easily than pewter (modern lead-free pewter tarnishes very slowly). It will also not bring back the sharpness of any design on the pendant since it has already worn away.
You can polish the pendant but it will come back again pretty quickly since it is always in contact with the human body and the sweat that comes with it.
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