Copper Bracelet Guide (hammered)
The bracelet is an open cuff made of solid copper: you slide it onto your wrist instead of closing it. Below is how to adjust the size, how to wear it, and what to do if the colour changes.
In six steps
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Polish it once before you start. This way you start with a clean, even shine and can watch the patina develop from the beginning.
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Adjust the size. Hold the bracelet with both hands and slowly bend the ends slightly further open or closer together. Do this as little as possible: copper only tolerates a limited number of bends.
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Slide it onto your wrist. Turn the opening towards the inside of your wrist, slide the bracelet over it and turn it back. It should stay in place without pinching.
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Take it off for water and soap. Swimming, showering, exercising and cleaning: set the bracelet aside for these. Chlorine, soap and sweat speed up tarnishing. Also let hand cream, sunscreen and perfume soak in before you put it back on.
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Green haze on your skin. Copper reacts with moisture and salts in sweat to form a thin, greenish layer. That's harmless and rinses off again with water and a cloth.
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Polish it or leave it be. Want shine? Polish with lemon and salt (not too hard: salt is mildly abrasive and dissolves well in the lemon juice) and dry immediately. Want to keep the dark patina? Then do nothing. Store the bracelet in the velvet pouch.
Patina is part of it
Copper naturally changes colour through contact with skin, air and moisture. Some people deliberately let that dark patina develop, others prefer to keep polishing it away. Both are fine; it's purely a matter of taste, not quality.
Cleaning
Polish the bracelet with lemon and salt (not too hard: salt is mildly abrasive and dissolves well in the lemon juice) if you want the shine back, rinse and dry immediately. Store it in the included velvet pouch when you're not wearing it; that slows down tarnishing from the air.
When you polish, always treat the whole bracelet rather than just the spot that bothers you. Polishing unevenly is exactly what creates blotches.
This finish has relief. A cloth does not reach into the grooves, so acid stays behind there and keeps working on that one spot, which leaves blotches. After polishing, hold it under the tap for twenty seconds, turning it as you go, and only dry it completely afterwards.
A velvet pouch is included. Keep your copper in it when you are not using it: that saves scratches and keeps the air off the metal, so the shine lasts longer. Put it away dry. If you see pale fibres on the velvet, they are sitting loose on top and a lint roller lifts them off in a few passes. There is more on that in the velvet pouch.
Polishing brings the shine back. To hold on to it, a hair-thin layer of wax keeps the air off the metal and stretches it from days to weeks. That is what how to keep copper shiny is about.
Questions about this product?
The most common questions are answered on the product page itself, or check the general FAQ page.