@@beautgrainger147 interesting question. If the silver hasn’t been heated and is as it came from the bullion merchant, than not necessarily. The colours will be slightly less vibrant but may still be satisfactory. If the silver has been heated ie soldered or annealed than it is necessary to remove the resulting fire stain. This can be done by depletion gilding where piece is heated to annealing temperature and pickled. This needs to be done repeatedly in order to leave a layer of fine silver on the surface. Here is a link that may help explain the process. products.riogrande.com/content/Instruction-Sheets/Aura-22-Instructions-for-Depletion-Gilding-IS.pdf Don’t be confused by the reference to Aura 22 as this is needed for the depletion gilding process.

@lindaconnellyenamels thank you for the link, it seems likely to be the same way a white frosted silver watch dial could also be traditionally produced - about which I've previously read a few word summary, but not of the process.. so it should be handy for enamelling or frosting.

also nice to hear you've mastered the jooltool in regards to enamel!

Oh yes indeed! I do love my JoolTool and it is a game changer for helping me be efficient and saves me so much time! Just need to really pay attention or disaster!

Good luck with it all. I have spent many years working on improving my finishing. There is still more to learn but it is a journey.

Hi Paula. Glad you found it useful. The silver is sterling and has been domed and then engraved before enamelling. It is ok to enamel straight onto sterling if you haven’t heated it to create fire stain. I use a fine layer of a pale transparent enamel which is carefully wet laid and fired before I apply the wires and fuse them in place. This is Soyer 3 Silver flux which is the only one I use on silver. It has taken many years of practice and making mistakes to get to the stage I am now. Sometimes I still get it wrong but it is worth it all when it goes right.

@@lindaconnellyenamels thank you so 🙏 much for your tips. Do you know of this soyer enamel is compatible with wc and hiller enamels? Hope not to abuse of your kindness

Soyer enamels are leaded. I am not familiar with either of the other enamels. If they are leaded too then they should be fine together.

Really pleased it was useful for you.

Thank you. I will try to take some photos. I have a few to make as commissions for Christmas. No pressure lol. I will see what I can do. Linda

Sorry can’t edit and I pressed send too early. The Foredom Polishing Motor is bench mounted and I have a very old swansdown mop on one end which I use the White Luxi polish. The mop is very worn and soft. I use a firm pressure and finally I polish from the top so any edges of the bezel are polished and rounded. Hope this helps.

@@lindaconnellyenamels It really helps a lot, thank you very much Linda. I really admire so much all of your work. Congratulations!

Thank you! I really appreciate the comment and glad you found my videos useful and that you like my piece. Your website looks lovely and it is great to see some enamelling. Good luck with it all. Have you thought of joining the Guild of Enamellers here in the UK? We have quite a few members in Europe and I know of at least one member in the Netherlands who has often attended our conference which in normal times is held in April. Just a thought. Good luck with it all and hope to “see” you soon. Have you seen my website lindaconnelly.co.uk where I also have a blog and a newsletter you can sign up to. Best wishes Linda

Excellent. So pleased it was useful for you!