Pros and Cons of Pewter On Accessories?

[Bugbear]

In my opinion pewter colored metal on one's accessories is far less formal than using bright silver or chrome.

I think it works very well with black leather accessories for day wear but is not going to look right on a black or white tie outfits.

Cheers

Jamie :ootd:

Thanks, Panache; that was more along the line of what I was wondering.

Any traditionalists want to weigh in?

[KFCarter]

In my opinion pewter colored metal on one's accessories is far less formal than using bright silver or chrome.

I think it works very well with black leather accessories for day wear but is not going to look right on a black or white tie outfits.

Cheers

Jamie :ootd:

You're probably right about that, Jamie, although i don't think that silver and chrome are equally good for formal use. Just my prejudice, but I think silver has "lustre" and chrome has "shine." Unfortunately silver has the magical ability to drain your bank account, too.

[Sir William]

Ted,

I agree with Jamie, assuming you are talking about unpolished pewter.

Polished pewter, on the other hand, takes on a look very similar to silver - though its a royal pain to keep it polished - and would look good on an Argyle but not quite right for the formality of for a PC.

Personally, I don't care for the look of chrome at all.

[Bugbear]

Yes the buttons would be for use with a black Argyle. I have pollished pewter before, and considering the rarity of semi-formal events in my life, it would not be a huge burden to polish the pewter before using it.

As I said, the jacket would have the eyelets for removable buttons. The cantle could also be made removeable for polishing.

Does this change things?

[Freelancer]

Doesn't it tend to tarnish rather quickly?

[Bugbear]

I guess the other option would be silver plated brass for the cantle; the selection of silver buttons seems to be very limited.

It might be possible to come up with a half round silver rim and a bunch of silver tack for the cantle, but I don't know if that would work out very well.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

One can silver plate pewter. If you want to keep the silver from tarnishing I suspect it could be rhodium (sp?) plated, but then it would take on a chrome look. The other option would be to nickle plate the pewter, which would also give it a silver-look.

By and large, I agree with Jamie; pewter, even well polished, would probably look a bit "down market" on a formal jacket.

[Bugbear]

One can silver plate pewter. If you want to keep the silver from tarnishing I suspect it could be rhodium (sp?) plated, but then it would take on a chrome look. The other option would be to nickle plate the pewter, which would also give it a silver-look.

By and large, I agree with Jamie; pewter, even well polished, would probably look a bit "down market" on a formal jacket.

Thank you, MOR; I wasn't sure if pewter could be silver plated, but that is an interesting option for the buttons. I do no where to get real silver buttons, but they are not the design that I would prefer; they are also larger than the sleeve and pocket buttons on an argyle.

I'm thinking it would be better to make the cantle of brass or something like that if it were to be silver plated. Just exploring the options.

[Bugbear]

Doesn't it tend to tarnish rather quickly?

I went and looked that up. Modern, lead free pewter does develop a patina over time, and can darken, but it doesn't sound like it would be over the course of an evening.

However, it sounds like pewter is not an option.

I do have a chromed cantle sporran, however, it is not a fur sporran. I'm not sure what it could be used for.

[JSFMACLJR]

Ted,

If you can afford it, I would definitely recommend going with silver (sterling) buttons, and sporran. Why? Well, there really isn't anything as nice as silver (everything else tries to imitate it), and one day in the future--if you decide not to go with silver now--you might decide that you want to "step up," and then you're out of the money from the original outlay.

Simple domed silver buttons would be ideal for your jacket. They are not too hard to find.

Another option--a little dressier and more suitable for evening wear, are cut steel buttons. An excellent source for these buttons is Military Metalwork:
http://www.militarymetalwork.co.uk/services/court.php