We’ve been experimenting and playing with metal alphabet stamps on our silver and gold plate charms and pendants as a way to customize our jewelry designs. For detailed instructions on stamping and a list of tools, check out our classroom. Yesterday I wrote about stamping on our different sterling silver charms and pendants. Our popular gold plate vermeil style charms offer a warm, rich canvas for stamping. We also tried using markers to add contrast to the stamped letters. This is what we found:
Stamps on gold plate, without ink added.
1. One of our main questions on stamping gold plate was whether the sterling silver would show through on the stamped letters. Fortunately, we found that the letters maintained their gold tone. However, our examples have not been tested over time – it is possible that over time and with wear, the silver may peek out at the edges of the letters. Does anyone have experience with time-worn stamped gold plate charms? How is the durability of the gold on the stamped letters?
With black dry erase marker added to the stamped letters.
2. In an effort to make the letters pop, we tried adding black dry erase marker to them. On both our cast gold plate word and letter charms and our hand-stamped samples, the black dry erase was quite successful in adding contrast, making the letter or word pop against the gold plate. We did notice that the deeper the hand-stamped letters, the better they retained the dry erase ink. After adding the ink, we waited about a minute for it to dry before wiping off the excess. The dry erase maker also worked well on our sterling silver stamped charms.
The top charm has dry erase, the bottom is without.
3. The stamped charms with dry erase marker have not stood the test of time. If the charms are exposed to water, it’s possible the dry erase could fade. We also tried using a black sharpie marker, which would be more permanent, but found that when the excess was wiped away, the permanent ink darkened the overall color of the gold plate.
We’ve had such fun playing with metal letter stamps and are inspired by all the design possibilities stamping presents. Who else has caught the stamping bug? Do you have tips and recommendations for successful stamping?
