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Looking for a process(formulation) for coloring on silver metal

I'm looking for an chemical process for coloring silver in blue and green.

Yaakov Casapu
- HAIFA, ISRAEL
2001

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You should start by searching the literature. A good source of a variety of methods for coloring different substrates are included in the Metal Finishing Guide Book. This book is published by Metal Finishing Magazine.

Gene Packman
process supplier - Great Neck, New York
2001

Electrophoretic coating can do the job. The coating itself is clear but it can be colored by dyes or pigments into many colors.

S. Y. Yuen
- Hong Kong, China
2001

I had, in my possession, a silver Japanese cigarette case that was decorated, on the insides of the covers, with traditional fishing village scenes. It was quite lovely - the tints were rather subdued, reminiscent of the various watercolors I'd seen of similar scenes. There were no identifying marks such as the artist's stamp. I took this to have been done with various metallic salts and that this was an established craft in Japan. This particular item was apparently made for the tourist trade and I continue, unsuccessfully, to search flea markets and other venues for another example. It is possible that there is a documented process in the literature. It may take someone who's skilled in reading Japanese to research it. I would like to experiment but the large number of potential salts to be tried is daunting, to say nothing of acquiring small quantities of each.

William Crane
Graphics designer - Cockeysville, Maryland, USA
August 21, 2009