Is This Sterling Silver?

I often hear people ask if the metal I use for my jewelry is true silver. If compared to platinum or gold, sterling silver is pretty inexpensive. So by comparison, silver is cheap. To see a comparison for today's silver and gold price, visit my website at EnergyRings.com/gold.html

When I make jewelry from silver, I price it according to what I feel is a fair price for my creativity, time, and materials. This results in very reasonable prices. So much so, that sometimes people question the authenticity of the materials. This questioning is understandable, given the fact that there are other items of jewelry available that are 'silver' but not sterling silver.

Here is an explanation of the different types of silver commonly used in jewelry.

We will start with "Sterling Silver". This is the most accepted form of silver for the jewelry industry. It is used in fine jewelry all over the world. The formula is 92.5% pure silver and the balance is copper. The copper is added to give the metal strength because pure silver is too soft to use in jewelry.

Sterling silver is the most beautiful of all the silver alloys (a mixture of two or more metals). The luster and color is unsurpassed.

Sterling silver has always stood alone in quality, intrinsic value and of course beauty. The formula for sterling silver has gone unchanged for centuries. I am sure the reason for this is that something so perfect needs no change.

Fine Silver: This is a very pure form of Silver (99.9% pure). Fine Silver is sometimes used in jewelry to take advantage of it's soft and malleable characteristics. The most common use is a bezel. Bezel is usually the part in jewelry that holds the stones in place. Being softer than Sterling Silver, Fine Silver Bezel can be easily shaped and burnished to conform to the shape of the stone being set.

The term Silver can have several meanings, however, In most cases it is referring to sterling silver. The reason being that the most common form of silver used in fine jewelry is sterling silver.

The alloy "German Silver" is actually not silver at all. The only silver in German Silver is the color and that is not that close. It is a yellow white metal used in the frames of eye glasses and costume jewelry. It consists of 12% Nickel, 23% Zinc, and the rest is copper.

There is another close relative to German Silver and it is called Nickel Silver. It is mostly copper with 18% nickel and about 17% Zinc. Nickel is very common in costume jewelry and is also a very common base metal for items plated in silver.

Coin Silver: As the term is used in the USA is made up of 90% Silver and 10% other metals. This was the standard for silver coins in the US but is no longer used for this purpose today. The term remains, however, and this alloy is still occasionally used in jewelry.

The old U.S. Nickel coin, by the way, was made not of pure nickel as we would think but 25% nickel and 75% copper.

Article Source: http://www.articlesup.com

To learn more about how silver jewelry can impact your health, visit EnergyRings.com. This site features copper, gold and silver jewelry designed to improve your well being. Copper Bracelets and Copper Rings are quite original.

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