Copper - Shiny or Oxidized - You Choose

Whenever I make a new piece of copper jewelry I love how bright and shiny it looks when I take it out of the tumbler. I admire it for awhile and then decide if I am going to add a patina or not. Here are a few pairs of earrings that I made both ways so you, the buyer, can decide which they prefer.

All are available in my shop.

Rustic Earrings

I love how these earrings turned out. I made simple hoops out of copper wire and then hammered it to give them some texture. I decided to oxidize them instead of leaving the copper shiny. I gave them a quick dunk in liver of sulphur and this is how they came out. They remind me of something rustic that you might find in an old barn. I'm going to make myself a pair and I am hoping to duplicate the patina exactly.

These are available in my Etsy store

Patina Copper with Egg

I do a lot of work in copper and I go back and forth between liking it most in its natural shiny state and adding a patina to it so it looks darker and aged. There are examples in the photo to the right of the copper both ways.

A lot of artists use liver of sulphur to add patina, but I don't have a source close by and I really didn't want the odor and fumes in my house. I don't have a separate shop with a ventilation system so I looked into alternative methods. After much research and discussion on various forums I decided to give the egg method a try.

Hard boil and egg and while it is still warm, cut it in a couple of pieces and put it in an airtight container with your item. I have read people stating to not let the egg touch the item, but my egg and item always get jumbled together and I never found it to be a problem. In fact, when I was using the egg method on this bracelet I squished the egg and mashed it into the bracelet. This bracelet has a very tight weave and just leaving it sitting with the egg wasn't working very well. I use a ziploc bag to do this so I can keep moving and turning the item to get good coverage.

Having never used liver of sulphur, I can't be sure, but I believe that this method takes quite a bit longer. In fact, most of my pieces get left in the egg overnight.

All the copper in my Etsy shop, so far, has been left shiny. I do indicate in the descriptions that it will darken on its own over time, but maybe it would sell better if I added the patina. What do you think? Any opinions on copper bright verus darkened?