53590.0 - Silverform Pendant, Large Unique Australian Chrysoprase Enclosed in Pure Silver which has been Gold Plated, 90mm

W250S
This particular piece is one of just a handful of very large "Silverform" pendants that we made. It is in fact a very unique piece as no other pendant we made was quite the same and no other will ever be made again..

We made our "Silverform" Jewellery here in Australia between the mid 1970's to about mid 1980's. Only Australian Gemstones were used.

The making of our "Silverform" products involved painting the areas of the stone that we wanted to be Silver with a special type Silver based paint.

We then immersed the item in an electroplating tank. But, rather than a flash plating, which can literally be rubbed off (like Gold Plating sometimes wear off cheap watches etc..), we let the plating process go for many hours, sometimes days, to allow the Silver to build itself up until it becomes a thick layer which would not wear off in a life time, even Centuries, for that matter.

Because our "Silverform" products were made with Pure Silver (999), it is much more resistant to oxidization than Sterling Silver (925). It is also far stronger than silver items that has been made by the casting process (mass production from a mold) and even items made from sheet metal Silver.

As a bail or jump-ring for the chain can not actually be created in a plating tank, a Sterling Silver (925) bail or jump-ring had to be attached to the stone. It also enabled the item to be hung on a plating rack. Once the plating process started, the bail got covered with Pure Silver, just like the rest of the Silver painted areas of the pendant.

"Silverform" distinguish itself from other somewhat similar products in that we did NOT use copper to build up the metal thickness, then followed it up with a flash of Silver or Gold plating; our metal is pure and solid Silver right through.

Attempts were made by others to copy our "Silverform" process, but without full knowledge of the process and our specially designed equipment, they just painted the item with a thick layer of electrically conductive paint, like copper, then gave it a quick Silver or Gold flash plating...

No Silver at all, but nevertheless advertised and sold as Silver! 

The 1960's and 1970's was like the Wild West, you might say...