The most popular is sterling silver, which consists of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper. Any metal can make up the 7.5 percent non-silver portion of sterling. Centuries of experimentation have shown copper to be its best alloy. It improves the metal's hardness and durability without affecting its beautiful color.
The small amount of copper added to sterling has very little effect on the metal's value. The price of the silver item is affected by the labor involved in making the item, the skill of the craftsperson, and the intricacy of the design.
Most high quality silver items are stamped with a "fineness" or "quality" mark. This mark designates the precious metal content of the jewelry, and under federal law, must be accompanied by a maker's mark or registered trademark.
Because pure silver is so soft, it should only be used when malleability is required, such as in handcrafted jewelry featuring weaving and other intricate designs. Sterling silver is most often used for jewelry and household accessories because of its combination of beauty and durability.
Acceptable quality marks for sterling silver include: sterling, sterling silver and sterling silver.92.
With proper care, fine quality silver will last a lifetime. To minimize scratches and other damage store silver jewelry either in a cloth pouch or in a separate compartment in your jewelry box.
Avoid exposing silver to household chemicals when cleaning with bleach or ammonia, or when swimming in chlorinated water, as these chemicals can damage silver.
Care should also be taken to prevent silver tarnish build-up. This is a dulling that naturally occurs when silver reacts with sulfur or hydrogen sulfide in the air. To clean silver, use polishes formulated specifically to remove tarnish. These can be found in fine silver polishes, solutions. In addition, you can use appropriate cloths to remove tarnish, which can be found at most hardware stores or specialty craft stores.
Tarnish is most easily removed when it first becomes visible. Wearing silver jewelry often is the best way to prevent tarnish from building up.
Regular cleaning of all your silver items will prevent tarnish and keep your silver bright and sparkling.
To ensure the quality, when buying silver jewelry look for the fineness mark and the maker's mark on the underside of the silver item you are considering. Once you have purchased your silver jewelry, then heed the tips for care and you will enjoy a lifetime of wearability.
This article will educate you so you understand what the different terminologies are when you are buying Wholesale silver jewelry or silver gemstone jewelry.
What is silver?
Silver is a metal which has been used for hundreds of years. Silver is mined from many countries but the biggest producers are Mexico, Peru and Australia.
Silver in its pure form, is normally considered too soft for everyday use. Therefore, other metals are added to the pure silver such as cooper.
The different types of ?Silver?
Sterling silver is the main type of silver used in jewellery, ornaments & dinnerware today. This is solid silver. Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% metal alloy.
Sterling silver is hallmarked as ?925?.
Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver and is normally considered too soft to use for most items. It is also solid silver.
Silver plating is common and sometimes dishonest sellers try to pass this off as sterling silver. It's also call electroplated silver or silver coated as well. Silver plated items are made using a base metal, normally brass or nickel, which is then put through an electroplating process. Electroplating is a process which adheres a very very thin layer of pure silver onto the base metal.
The result is a sterling silver looking item at a much reduced price. It may look like sterling silver but the silver plating tends to wear off quite quickly exposing the less than beautiful base metal.
Alpaca Silver or German Silver is not actually silver at all. It is a greyish looking alloy which resembles silver. It is sometimes referred to as nickel silver, paktong, and new silver. It is also used as a base for silver plated items because of its appearance. If you want real silver, stay away from this. Also, beware of sellers selling this as ?fine jewellery? to consumers that don't know the difference between sterling silver and alpaca silver.
Mexican Silver is silver is used to describe silver made in Mexico. It must have more than 90% pure silver content to be Mexican silver. Most silver jewellery from Mexico today is actually sterling silver.
Britannia Silver has a pure silver content of 95.85% and no more than 4.16% copper. This silver is marked in the U.K. and Ireland as "958 silver." It is an even more pure form of silver than sterling silver. Hence it's higher valuer.
Antiquing of Sterling Silver Jewelry Antiquing is very common in the silver industry today and is the practice of applying a finishing process to sterling silver to give the item an appearance of age. As well as giving the item an appearance of age, it also helps to produce a contrast which makes the details of intricate designs stand out better.
Both Ann Knapp & B2bpromotion are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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