Gold Tone Handbag Hardware: Tough Silver Change Options

Summary for gold tone handbag hardware Discussion

gold tone handbag hardware can sometimes be altered, but the thread makes clear there is no guaranteed practical fix. Cathy Smith-Baker asked whether her sister’s handbag hardware could be changed from gold to silver. In response, one answerer explained that “gold-tone” does not reveal the actual base or coating, since it might be electroplated gold, brass, nickel with a gold lacquer, or even paint. Because of that uncertainty, the only simple suggestion was to try a silver or pewter-tone Rub n Buff, though the answerer warned it may not look good enough or last long enough. A second answer from Goran Budija proposed more aggressive silvering methods, including leaf silvering or paste silvering, but noted the surface would need lacquering afterward. Overall, the discussion suggests that changing the finish is possible in theory, but not reliably or practically for a handbag without knowing the hardware’s composition.

Q. HELLO, MY SISTER BOUGHT ME A BEAUTIFUL HANDBAG BUT IT HAS GOLD-TONE HARDWARE. IS THERE ANY WAY TO CHANGE THE GOLD-TONE HARDWARE TO SILVER?

THANK YOU.

CATHY SMITH-BAKER
BUYER – MIAMI, Florida, USA
January 4, 2008

A. Unfortunately, Cathy, “gold-tone” tells you and I nothing about what it really is. It may be electroplated gold or electroplated brass, or it may be electroplated nickel topped with a gold-tone translucent lacquer either electrophroetically applied, or baked on. It may be paint. You could try a silver or pewter-tone
Rub n Buff

⇦ on

eBay or

Amazon [affil link]
, but if that doesn’t look good enough for you or last long enough, I don’t think there is a practical solution.

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha

finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey



Need quick confidential answers? $25
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Precipitated Chalk
(Calcium Carbonate)

precipitated_chalk

on Amazon

or

eBay


(affil link)

A. Try leaf silvering(same as leaf gilding, you need silver leaf/or imitation silver leaf and special size/), or paste silvering (mix 10 gm silver chloride/20 gm kitchen salt/20 gm cream of tartar with some water/thick paste!/rub it on surface of your object with piece of cloth/leather or cork, polish it with some precipitated chalk ⇨
and water mixture, you must lacquer it). Hope it helps and good luck!

Goran Budija
– Cerovski vrh Croatia