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Is chrome plating resistant to adjacent patination?

I am a university instructor in metalsmithing, and one of my students is making a copper tableware piece. He is interested in masking some parts, chrome plating, then using a patina on the copper portions left from masking. I don't yet know which patina he wants to use, but I'm assuming anything involving fire or sitting in sawdust for a week will probably not work out well.

Any thoughts on how resistant the chrome will be to various patinas, such as ammonia [on eBay or Amazon] or sulfur? I'm assuming that since chrome is regularly used as an anticorrosive that it should fare well but just wanted to check.

Heather Bayless
metalsmith, jewelry designer, university instructor - Seoul, Korea
May 6, 2009

Chromium plated objects are sensitive to chloride based solutions and to very alkaline solutions(NaOH,KOH).Hope it helps and good luck!

Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia
June 23, 2009

It is totally dependent on the concentrations, exposure time and temperature. Try some tests on some scrap material.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
June 24, 2009

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