Common questions about silver plating, restoration and caring for your pieces. Can't find your answer? Get in touch — we're happy to help.
We can plate onto nickel silver, copper, brass and stainless steel.
Unfortunately we are unable to plate Britannia Metal, due to the fact that it is a soft metal and may get damaged during the restoration process.
The earliest method of plate is called Old Sheffield Plate. This was discovered in the 1740s, and the technique is to take an ingot of copper and an ingot of sterling silver, heat them up and fuse them together. The ingot is then rolled out into sheets and an item is made from this. This technique was used until around the 1840s, when electroplating was discovered.
If your item is Old Sheffield Plate, you may find that restoring the silver (i.e. silver plating) the item actually devalues the piece. We can silver plate these items, but we want our customers to be aware of the above before we proceed.
In the 1840s electroplating was discovered. An item made of either nickel, silver or copper is immersed in a vat of silver cyanide, where pure silver is used. A current is then put across, which deposits the silver onto the copper. This is the modern method — and the method still used today.
Unfortunately all types of silver plating will tarnish eventually. How quickly will depend on the makeup of the original metal the item is made from.
Silver plating does need a regular polish. We use items such as Silvo, Brasso or Town Talk silver cloths to restore the original shine — these can be purchased from your local supermarket.
In terms of cutlery: although in theory silver-plated cutlery can go in the dishwasher, the prolonged length of time the cutlery is left with food substances on it and the acidity in the washing tablets/powder will tarnish the plate quicker. We would always recommend hand-washing silver-plated cutlery.
A very general rule — and this is based on cutlery which is washed every day — is a micron a year. So 10 microns should last approximately 10 years.
When we refurbish old items of cutlery, the silver plate can only be as good as the surface we silver plate onto.
To make sure we get a good finish, your piece must first be polished. This levels off the surface we plate onto. We then silver plate your work, and it is silver-finished after plating and warehoused.
The polishing and silver finishing is mainly done at the weekends, so it can take up to four weeks to restore your items. We will always try to meet our customers' needs, but would ask that when sending old pieces for restoration you bear this time frame in mind.
