Is Brass Jewelry Good Quality? And Does It Turn Skin Green?

Brass gets two reputations at once. To some people it is the warm, hand-worked metal of collars and cuffs that look better every year. To others it is the stuff that turned a finger green in college. Both are true, and the difference is not the metal. It is what was done with it.

What brass is

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, usually around two parts copper to one part zinc. Copper gives it the warm color and the ability to take a patina; zinc gives it strength and a slightly paler, more golden tone than pure copper. It has been used for jewelry since antiquity because it is easy to hammer, cut, bend and cast, and because it holds detail.

Zavaire's forged metal collection is mostly brass, worked by hand in India and Kenya. The listings state the alloy, and where a piece is lead- and nickel-free, it says so.

What makes brass jewelry good or bad

Three things.

The alloy. Cheap brass jewelry can contain nickel or lead, which cause reactions and are simply bad to wear. Good brass does not. Look for the lead- and nickel-free line, and buy from sellers who state it.

The work. Cast brass from a mold is uniform and thin. Forged brass, hammered from sheet or wire, is heavier, keeps the tool marks, and breaks light into facets that a smooth surface cannot. The Cascading Hammered Ring Bib Necklace and the Graduated Brass Multi-Band Collar Necklace are forged; every ring and band on them was shaped by hand.

The finish. Raw brass darkens with wear. Some pieces are lacquered to slow that; some are plated in gold or silver over the brass base; some are left bare on purpose. None of these is wrong, but the listing should tell you which you are buying, because they age differently.

Does brass turn skin green?

It can. The green mark is copper reacting with the acids in sweat and with lotions, perfume and humidity. It is harmless, and it washes off with soap and water. It happens most under a ring or a cuff that sits tight against skin in warm weather, and least under a necklace or earrings that touch skin lightly and briefly.

Three things reduce it:

• Keep the piece dry. Take rings and cuffs off before washing hands, showering or exercising.
• A clear barrier. A coat of clear nail polish on the inside of a cuff or band blocks the contact. It wears off in a few months and can be reapplied.
• Plated pieces. Gold or silver plating over brass keeps the copper off the skin until the plating wears through, which on a well-plated piece takes years.

If a piece marks you and you dislike it, the mark is a sign of real brass rather than a coated alloy. Some people take that as reassurance.

How brass ages

Bare brass warms and darkens with handling, from bright gold toward a deeper honey. Many people prefer it after a year. If you would rather keep the brightness, a soft polishing cloth restores it in a minute; there is no need for chemical cleaners, and abrasives will scratch a hammered surface. A brass piece that has never been polished and a brass piece polished weekly are both correct. It is a preference.

Brass versus gold-plated brass versus gold

Solid gold is expensive and soft. Gold-plated brass gives the color of gold on a strong, affordable base; the plating wears through eventually at high-contact points like the inside of a ring. Bare brass gives a warmer, more golden-brown color that ages rather than wearing through. For large, sculptural pieces, bare or plated brass is what makes the scale affordable: a collar the size of the ones in the forged collection would cost thousands in gold.