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Post by jessamine on Jan 19, 2017 11:44:07 GMT
I was saving my Mayan flared rose gold eyelets for only wearing on special occasions. I went to grab them after not wearing for probably about 6 months or so and they were becoming what looked like corroded. There was blackish discoulouration and pitting. I've actually never seen jewelry coating come off like this and it doesn't look good. It doesn't look like tarnish it looks like corrosion or rust. So WTF is the base of this jewelry? It doesn't mention the specifics on the website. On BAF some rose gold stuff is over copper and some is over silver. At the price I paid I expected it to be over silver. I have asked Tawapa for the answer and will post it here but wanted to start a thread because their stuff costs good money and I'm quite disappointed and want to know 1) what kind of bullshit have I put in my ears and 2) if this is some kind of weird tarnish I've never seen before how to get it off. I also want to prevent other people going through this because you do not expect plated jewelry to come off with light wear a couple of times. If you wear them every day your skin acids will eat the coating off but you should be able to wear plated jewelry for a while like costume jewelry without trouble. Buyer beware
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Post by PiercedOff on Jan 19, 2017 11:55:26 GMT
Iirc it's shitty "white brass" or something. It's basically a mix of cheap garbage metals. As much as piercers love to jizz themselves silly over Tawapa, the economy brands like Metal Mafia are probably safer, material-wise. Tawapa is way overpriced sub-economy jewellery. But it's got a thin layer of gold leaf! $600 please!
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Post by jessamine on Jan 19, 2017 12:03:18 GMT
It doesn't say on Tawapa's website but by looking around on BAF, which is not where I bough them, they describe them as rose gold over silver. But neither of those materials should behave like this. My silver from Tawapa needs a bit of a polish every once and a while but that's it. I'm looking up all kind of just basic jewelry info online and I'm seeing nothing like this reaction, it's quite weird.
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Post by chemicalburn on Jan 19, 2017 13:59:41 GMT
I emailed them aaages ago to ask what was in the white brass, IIRC it's just a shitload of zinc with some copper mixed in. I'm on mobile now but I'll see if I can find the email when I get home.
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Post by chemicalburn on Jan 19, 2017 15:04:42 GMT
I could only find an email from Maya, their's is 49% zinc and 51% brass. I'm positive I asked Tawapa too at some point but I can't find it. I've had problems with their metal too, these Kerala weights are unplated and they're showing the same dark spots and pitting that you described, plus a serious green patina- Only one of them as gotten like that, the other still seems fine. I also kept other brass/copper jewellery from different companies in the same box and this piece is the only one that's having problems.
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Post by lishd on Jan 19, 2017 18:38:33 GMT
"silver" is tricky because silver is a metal but also a color. so BAF saying "silver" doesn't mean much.
i've only heard tawapotato refer to it as "white metal". whatever it is, i wouldn't wear it even if it sucked my clit at the same time.
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Post by jessamine on Feb 1, 2017 11:36:44 GMT
Tawapa responded and said they had never seen such a thing happen before and that I can get a jeweler to polish back to the sterling silver and have them replated if I want back to rose gold. I have no idea how much that would cost though. They blamed the weather in Australia??? No offer of any assistance on their part. I will not be buying anything else in metal from them ever again, probably not anything else full stop. I really wish I had worn them more when they were still pretty
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Post by jessamine on Feb 1, 2017 11:38:28 GMT
I could only find an email from Maya, their's is 49% zinc and 51% brass. I'm positive I asked Tawapa too at some point but I can't find it. I've had problems with their metal too, these Kerala weights are unplated and they're showing the same dark spots and pitting that you described, plus a serious green patina- Only one of them as gotten like that, the other still seems fine. I also kept other brass/copper jewellery from different companies in the same box and this piece is the only one that's having problems. Wow, that's a nice thick patina you're getting there!
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Post by chrysalis on Feb 2, 2017 14:11:36 GMT
Tawapa responded and said they had never seen such a thing happen before and that I can get a jeweler to polish back to the sterling silver and have them replated if I want back to rose gold. I have no idea how much that would cost though. They blamed the weather in Australia??? No offer of any assistance on their part. I will not be buying anything else in metal from them ever again, probably not anything else full stop. I really wish I had worn them more when they were still pretty Did they offer to replate your eyelets or just tell you a jeweler could? I've had my Afghan eyelets for a few years and they appear to be fine. Then again, they're yellow gold and might be over brass, not "silver"? Thanks for the warning guys.
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Post by jessamine on Feb 3, 2017 9:10:42 GMT
No offer of any assistance from them. Just told me that might be an option.
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Post by jessamine on Feb 19, 2017 3:50:29 GMT
Well today I thought fuck it. I'm not going to pay probably well over $100 dollars to get more life out of what already cost me way too much IMO considering the quality of gold etc that seems to be in this jewelry. So I decided to go old fashioned and clean them up the same way I do with my old copper and brass stuff (decor, not jewelry) which is using white vinegar and salt to rub off tarnish. It did a pretty good job, the worst parts of the tarnish or whatever can still be seen but they look like watermarks. I was concerned the gold would come off and even with pretty intense rubbing it doesn't appear that it has at all. So it looks like I'll get some more life out of these but I am very jaded and will now also call them Tawapotato. Are there any good larger body jewelry companies anymore? I've heard bad things about almost all of them now. It's a good indication from my interaction with them that even if you buy direct from them if something goes wrong with your jewelry they give zero fucks.
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Post by bluebananaeater on Feb 19, 2017 4:37:13 GMT
Would it help to store them with those little packs that come with shoes, purses, etc? It might help keep the environment they're in less moist.
My Reign plugs are a bit funky, but other than those nothing I have has gotten really weird (yet?)- Im curious to see if it happens again or not to this pair.
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