Brushed metal trend...opinions?

[Octo2005]

I am seeing the brushed metal finish popping up every where now. Anyone have one? How do you like it?
It seems like it would need more babying than the high polish finish.

I really like it, but I am usually drawn to things that are unique and I certainly have not seen anyone IRL with this tyoe of jewelry.

 

[rockysalamander]

All my platinum rings are brushed. I don't like shiny metal and it gets to the patina faster. They don't need any babying, but they quickly move from brushed to somewhere between lightly brushed and lightly shiny. It happens within a couple on months on my wedding band (5.4 mm wide comfort fit) and much of my tri-shank ering is still brushed a year later. The difference is how much they get rubbed on my skin and clothing.

I've had a brushed rose gold band and it showed scratches pretty easily, but I find that true of most gold of any finish as I'm too lazy to run them down to my buffing wheel frequently enough.

 

[Octo2005]

All my platinum rings are brushed. I don't like shiny metal and it gets to the patina faster. They don't need any babying, but they quickly move from brushed to lightly brushed and lightly shiny. It happens within a couple on months on my wedding band (5.4 mm wide comfort fit) and much of my tri-shank ering is still brushed a year later. The difference is how much they get rubbed on my skin and clothing.

I've had a brushed rose gold band and it showed scratches pretty easily, but I find that true of most gold of any finish as I'm too lazy to run them down to my buffing wheel frequently enough.

Thank you for sharing @rockysalamander. I also find it very appealing and prefer it on some of the "vintage style" settings, it just seems to enhance the look. I was worried about how it wears. Can it be reapplied when it gets buffed out to a point where it starts to bother you?

 

[rockysalamander]

Thank you for sharing @rockysalamander. I also find it very appealing and prefer it on some of the "vintage style" settings, it just seems to enhance the look. I was worried about how it wears. Can it be reapplied when it gets buffed out to a point where it starts to bother you?

Easy peasy to re-apply. The nice thing is that you don't lose metal when you re-apply on platinum, while you do on gold. I like the kinda soft brushing that it ends at. When my wedding band gets too shiny, I send it for another brushing (I'm set up for silver and gold at home, not platinum).

I'm not a skilled photographer, but here's a comparison of my platinum ering (far left, tri-wire showing 1.5 years on the satin finish) and wedding band (showing 1.5 years of wear on the finish) and a white gold ring (on the right) that I recently bought off a PS member waiting for a new shank. I think you can see how shiny the white gold is compared to the upper part of my ering shank.

 

[bludiva]

our wedding rings are brushed...i think they're as much upkeep as polished but in an inverse way b/c they revert to "shinier" and show scratches as shiny spots. scratches don't look as obvious though imho due to the texture and it gives YG and RG especially a nice depth of color. you could always have it repolished to shiny if you decide you don't like it

 

[ringo865]

I've had a brushed rose gold band and it showed scratches pretty easily, but I find that true of most gold of any finish as I'm too lazy to run them down to my buffing wheel frequently enough.

You have your own buffing wheel

 

[Bfelix]

My husband’s ring is brushed and scratched up but it still looks nice and the brush has stayed on nicely with it being 14kt white gold. I love the look of brushed gold in any color.

 

[rockysalamander]

You have your own buffing wheel

Yes. I have a lot of my grandmother's tools. She was a jeweler. I had a cool childhoold (even though she was a kinda scary German lady!).

 

[yssie]

Most of my pieces are high-polish but I have a few brushed/satin/matte rings. In my experience a high-polish finish definitely stays “like new” for longer: scratches on a brushed surface are more shiny than the metal around them, whereas scratches on a mirror surface are more dull than surrounding metal, and shiny-on-dull just stands out more visually than dull-on-shiny!

I’ve taken a few of my own pieces (the ones I don’t mind screwing up! ) to a dremel - I do love that freshly-brushed look

 

[Octo2005]

Easy peasy to re-apply. The nice thing is that you don't lose metal when you re-apply on platinum, while you do on gold. I like the kinda soft brushing that it ends at. When my wedding band gets too shiny, I send it for another brushing (I'm set up for silver and gold at home, not platinum).

I'm not a skilled photographer, but here's a comparison of my platinum ering (far left, tri-wire showing 1.5 years on the satin finish) and wedding band (showing 1.5 years of wear on the finish) and a white gold ring (on the right) that I recently bought off a PS member waiting for a new shank. I think you can see how shiny the white gold is compared to the upper part of my ering shank.

Good to know it can be reapplied/touched up.
Thank you for the photos, very helpful.

 

[Octo2005]

Yes. I have a lot of my grandmother's tools. She was a jeweler. I had a cool childhoold (even though she was a kinda scary German lady!).

I had forgotten about that! I remember now that you mentioned your grandmother was a jeweler in a different thread recently. That is so cool that you have inherited some of her things and her passion for all the bling.

 

[Octo2005]

our wedding rings are brushed...i think they're as much upkeep as polished but in an inverse way b/c they revert to "shinier" and show scratches as shiny spots. scratches don't look as obvious though imho due to the texture and it gives YG and RG especially a nice depth of color. you could always have it repolished to shiny if you decide you don't like it

I do love it in gold and have seen a lot of that lately online. I am planning a new platinum setting and I was toying with the idea, you don't see it quite as much as in gold.

 

[Octo2005]

My husband’s ring is brushed and scratched up but it still looks nice and the brush has stayed on nicely with it being 14kt white gold. I love the look of brushed gold in any color.

I agree it is very pretty.

 

[Octo2005]

Most of my pieces are high-polish but I have a few brushed/satin/matte rings. In my experience a high-polish finish definitely stays “like new” for longer: scratches on a brushed surface are more shiny than the metal around them, whereas scratches on a mirror surface are more dull than surrounding metal, and shiny-on-dull just stands out more visually than dull-on-shiny! All of mine are high polish, I guess that is why I am being drawn to something different.

I’ve taken a few of my own pieces (the ones I don’t mind screwing up! ) to a dremel - I do love that freshly-brushed look LOL, I would have never thought to try that!

 

[BlingDreams]

I’ve actually used a “very fine” nail buffer to give my polished rings a brushed finish. Worked like a charm

 

[stracci2000]

You have your own buffing wheel

I have my own buffing wheel, too. I do silver smithing and make a lot of my own jewelry.
Great to have when you need a quick shine on your rings!
A Dremel tool with wire brush attachments will work great too, to spruce up your brushed finish pieces.

 

[Octo2005]

Thank you @ILikeShiny and @stracci2000

I will have to find a few pieces to experiment on! (Where is the mad scientist emoji when you need it?)

 

[PintoBean]

My husband didn't like to draw attention to himself, which is why we opted for a brushed finish on his wedding ring. That was 6 years ago. It was a two toned gold unity ring and it honestly looked great new and over time.

 

[Octo2005]

Thank you Pinto!

 

[Lorelei]

I think, to quote our beloved Strmrdr as was, that a brushed finish is way kewl.