Anne V Massey
Silver Wings stud earrings
Silver Wings stud earrings
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This is a pair of silver wings earrings, hand-hammered from recycled sterling silver. These elegant silver stud earrings are lightweight and comfortable to wear. With their distinctive hammered texture and silky non-reflective finish these bird studs would make lovely earrings for a bride, shown off by an updo.
- Made from recycled sterling silver.
- From the same range as my popular Wings pendant and Wings drop earrings.
- Handmade in my Hove studio.
- The studs fasten at the back with a sterling silver butterfly.
- They measure roughly 2.5cm x 2cm.
- They can be cleaned by this simple technique, which preserves the finish.
- The silver wings earrings would make an ideal gift for an anniversary or special birthday.
These comfortable earrings are made by the Bronze Age metalworking technique of anticlastic raising, which makes three-dimensional forms from flat sheet by means of a hammer. I want these studs, and all my jewellery, to give many years of pleasure and become a touchstone for precious memories.
Postage and packing free
Free gift wrapping can be selected from the Cart. Just click on View my Cart; it will be under the list of pieces ordered.
Your order will be despatched to you by Special Delivery (UK only). Items in stock will usually be posted within 5 working days; items made to order in 2-4 weeks. Postage is included in the price. I will email you with the tracking number once the order is posted. For customers outside the UK, posting will be by Royal Mail International Tracked and Signed. I will pay the postage but the buyer will be responsible for any fees, duties or taxes which may be levied for delivery. I am currently not posting to countries in the EU due to the complexity of the new rules.
If you have questions or concerns you can contact me at info@annevmassey.com. I would love to hear from you.
Care information
Care information
Silver tarnishes over time. Pieces which are gold plated all over (gold vermeil) may need cleaning every now and again; although gold does not tarnish, the silver underneath may. All my work is best cleaned by methods which do not involve rubbing, which causes the jewellery to lose its semi-matte finish and gradually makes it become shiny. My favourite involves using readily available household items - hot water and bicarbonate of soda with aluminium foil in a heatproof glass or ceramic bowl or a stainless steel vessel. Even better, it's sustainable! You can re-use old foil - repeatedly! - but it needs to be clean. You can clean more than one piece of jewellery at a time, but as this is an electrochemical process each piece needs to be in contact with the foil. It doesn't matter which way up the foil is. The hotter the water, the faster the reaction goes. Enough bicarb should be used to cover each piece. This won’t damage the gold plating on wholly- or part-plated pieces, but boiling water should never be poured directly onto pieces which incorporate stones; some stones can be damaged or even destroyed by thermal shock. You can use hand-hot water in this case, or - more effectively - bring the piece(s) up to boil from cold in a stainless steel saucepan. There are many versions of this technique available on the internet, and also many sites which have information about stones and their vulnerability/resistance to thermal shock.
The first two images show a pendant before and after cleaning by this method. 
The next series of images shows a more heavily tarnished brooch. The images are taken at 20 minute intervals. As you can see, the brooch never becomes as clean and bright as the example above.
This technique works best if the piece is not too heavily tarnished.
Storing your jewellery properly can help retard or prevent tarnishing. Direct sunlight, humidity, chlorine and hairspray all accelerate tarnishing. Storing the jewellery in a box in a dry room (not the bathroom, for example) will help keep it looking bright and fresh. The jewellery should not be worn to a swimming pool, and hairspray should be applied before putting jewellery on. Salt (including from perspiration) can also react with silver, so it should not be worn for swimming in the sea.
If you don’t mind losing the surface “bloom”, you can use a commercially available cleaner such as Goddard’s foaming paste, or even toothpaste, with a soft toothbrush.
Much of this information is taken from Masamitsu Inaba's article Tarnishing of Silver: A Short Review in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Conservation Journal, January 1996 Issue 18. Many thanks.
