HISTORICAL DESIGN Gold color brass is ideal for emulating ancient and old world "gold" jewelry, creating historial golden crowns of royality and of papal and religious significance, for embellishing costumes, cosplay and fantasy designs with medalions and banding, as well as creating decorative home accessories, mosiac medalions, hardware, furniture trims and embellishments.  DESIGN ELEMENTS AND GENRES Visit my etsy shop to see my selection of vintage, new and hand oxidized jewelry findings, brass banding and gallery wire, trims and medalions with historial design elements including Tribal, Egyptian, Grecian, Greco Roman, French Rocco, Celtic, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and more. I also have many components with fantasy design elements for old world or futuristic creations. WHAT IS BRASS MADE OF? Brass is an alloy (mixture) of copper and zinc in variable proportions. Depending on the proportion of copper to zinc, the color of brass can vary from yellow/gold to green, to a redish (coppery) tone.  The more copper, the more red to brown tone...the more zinc, the more yellow to green tone. HISTORY OF BRASS Antique dealers are familiar with the term "Pinchbeck Jewelry". It was named for Christopher Pinchbeck (1670-1732), who was a well known clock & watch maker in London where he made and sold jewelry as well as watches and clocks. His discovery looked like gold, but actually contained no gold! While the actual formula was keep secret, many believed it contained 4 parts copper and 3 parts zinc. The mixing of copper & zinc to make a gold color metal is today known as...BRASS!
	DARK BROWN | BLACK OXIDIZED DARK METAL BRASS  Some of these brass examples are quite old and have a naturally developed dark patina. Some are my dark oxidized brass. Whether naturally developed or hand oxidized, these dark metal brass components closely emulate the dark patina which developes on bronze from antiquity (aka antique bronze patina).  Black patina brass is perfect for gothic and neo-victorian design and closely resembles the look of iron which was used in jewelry designs from the early 1700's and can also be found in jewelry as late as the 1930's. LEAVE IT DARK OR MAKE IT GOLD  Oxidized brass can be used as it (with it's dark patina) or buffed with xtra fine steel wool (#000) to expose the desired amount of brass highlights to emulate golden tan tone bronze. For a bright gold finish, buff with xtra fine (#000) steel wool then follow with a brass polish. I like to use a "Sunshine Cloth" for polishing as it leaves no mess or residue and you more easily control the sections you want to polish.      THE BRONZE AGE What is bronze and what is the difference between bronze and brass? Bronze is an alloy (mixture) of copper and tin. Brass is an alloy (mixture) of copper and zinc. The earliest period of The Bronze Age begins in Ancient Egypt in the Protodynastic Period circa 3150 BC. Because brass and bronze are similar due to their high copper content, we utilize our proprietary oxidizing process on brass to produce an "ancient or antique" bronze patina making our oxidized brass a perfect metal for producing ancient and old world designs. Many of our customers are cosplay artists and jewelry and costume designers for stage and film productions which have historical themes.  Whether designing for Ancient Egypt, Grecian, Roman, the Gothic and Renaissance periods, or thru to the Victorian Era (and even up to contemporary design), oxidized brass can be used to produce a variety of finishes to emulate jewelry designs through out the ages. OLD OR NEW BRASS? With our oxidizing and finishing technics, it is very difficult to tell the difference between old brass and newly produced brass. Due to the rarity of genuine old brass findings, we mix old & new brass in many designs to achieve a very authentic looking old world look.
Above. A vintage Queen Victoria cameo and hand oxidized brass pendant. DIY Kit available at my etsy shop. An assortment of victorian style hat pins. Made with vintage components and my hand oxidized brass jewelry findings giving them an authentic Victorian period, antique look.	THE VICTORIAN ERA The Victorian Era is named for the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Known for it's eclecticism, the Victorians took on many of the styles from the middle ages including Gothic & Renaissance motifs.   Iron & steel were also used in jewelry through out these era's (from the early 1700's) and can also be found in jewelry as late as the 1930's. There really are no rules when designing jewelry! Get pieces that appeal to YOU and start putting them together.   My best advise for jewelry making or crafting, is for you to acquire components and findings that you like then just go for it!!! INTERESTING FACT   The victorians used names of stones to spell out words or initials in jewelry.   Example: Connect together turquoise (T), amethyst (A) and jet (J). To make the initials TAJ (Tammy Agatha Jones :)	This lovely faux patina compliments of Minwax Walnut Gel Stain for metal.