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The beginnings of silver are lost to history. No one knows exactly when it began to be used as ornamentation or for the construction of household items, but we do know that by 3100 BC, ambassadors from Crete brought gifts of silver vases to the pharaohs of Egypt, where the metal was closely tied to the goddess Isis. In Greek mythology, both Apollo and his twin sister Artemis carried silver bows they had been given at birth, and silver is considered one of the seven sacred metals, predating the Periodic Table. It is the traditional gift for a 25th anniversary and is called the Queen of Metals. Today, just under 1/3 of the silver produced in the world is used for jewelry and silverware. Mexico leads the world in silver mining, followed by Peru, Australia, China, and Poland. The US and Canada are 7th and 8th, respectively, but the greatest single mine strike in history was that of the Comstock Lode, a 2.5 mile deposit near Virginia City, Nevada. It was discovered in 1859 and named for shepherd and miner Henry Comstock, who convinced the two miners who actually found it that it belonged to him. Over the next 20 years, the mine yielded $400 million in both silver and gold ores and earned Nevada a nickname as the Silver State, but Mr. Comstock could prove no claim to the mine and died a poor man. With a Mohs rating of 3.25, pure silver is a soft, easily-damaged metal, so it is commonly combined with 7.5% copper in order to produce the more sturdy material used for jewelry making. This alloy is called sterling silver and is usually identified by the numbers 925 stamped into it, for 92.5% pure silver. (Mexican silver is only 90% silver and is stamped with 900.) Sterling silver contains no nickel, so people with nickel allergies may find sterling comfortable to wear. While sterling silver is a fairly sturdy metal, it should not be twisted or bent unduly, and some care does need to be taken with it. The acids in wood can mar it's finish, especially oak, so you should avoid leaving your silver jewelry lying on a wood surface, and it is best kept in a dark, dry place - even the light from a single light bulb will speed up the rate of tarnish. As well, silver is incompatible with acetylene, ammonia, and hydrogen peroxide, so avoid getting any of these on your silver jewelry at all costs. And take it off before you hit the pool! Four reasons sterling silver is a better jewelry metal than gold: A Special Word About Silver Beads: There are different types of silver beads. Bali beads are sterling silver beads handmade by individual craftsmen on the island of Bali, in Indonesia. They are usually antiqued, with a black patina in the nooks and crannies. Only these Balinese artisans crafted beads may truthfully be labeled"bali beads". Bali-style beads are beads made in the same style as actual bali beads, but they are made in other countries and may or may not be of sterling silver. Some bali-style beads are silver-plated base metal; make sure you ask what unmarked beads are made of. Mexican silver falls into two categories: silver which is less pure than sterling - and may have very little actual silver at all - and silver which is actually 95% pure silver and only 5% copper, making it a higher quality, but softer silver than sterling. It is best to look for the stamp on a piece of finished jewelry. 95% silver will be stamped 950. If the silver is not stamped or is in bead or component form, it is most likely the cheaper, poorer quality silver, which is also known as alpaca, nickel or german silver, and is not actually silver, but may be silver plated. Some of this "silver" originates in the town of Taxco. We are not saying all Taxco silver is bad, but we would suggest you hedge your bets: ask the supplier to verify the quality of the silver. And for the record, Mexican sterling silver is the same 92.5% silver as "normal" sterling silver. Indian silver is a term applied to bali-style beads and other jewelry components made in India, which may or may not be sterling silver. Ask. Thai Hill Tribe Silver, or Hill tribe silver of Thailand, is silver from the various hill tribes in Thailand. Intricately carved and often whimsical, hill tribe silver sometimes has a southwestern flavor and is generally 95% silver, though beads vary from tribe to tribe and may have a silver content as high as 99%. All hill tribe silver products are of softer silver than sterling, so some care should be taken with components of this substance.
Beads
of Bali Bali
Beads & Jewelry Plasa
Bali Silver Beads
Perhaps no other substance on earth has captured the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of men more than gold. While scholars disagree on when gold actually caught the eye of man, the precious metal's first agreed upon use was in Egypt around 4000 BC; by the time those silver vases made it there, Egyptian craftsmen were already masters at gold leaf and making gold castings, and gold jewelry was old hat in Iraq. History shows gold rings were an acceptable method for repayment of debt around 3000 BC, but it wasn't until Egypt struck it rich in Nubia around 2500 BC that gold became the international standard of exchange in trade, and it took until right around 359 BC for gold coin to become common - when the Roman Empire used it to pay their armies. It was during the rule of Alexander the Great, almost 30 years later, that gold jewelry swept into high fashion and remained a valued art form for the next 300 years, until around 27 BC, when it fell from grace...and stayed there until the 4th century AD. From 200 to 400 AD, Roman-minted coins flourished, but when the empire fell in 400 AD, it was nearly a millennium before the return to widespread use of gold coin, around 1330. During the Neo hellenic Period, beginning in 1453, gold jewelry again rose in status and craftsmanship, with emphasis placed on elaborate and intricate creations. It has remained in favor ever since. Gold is the most easily worked of all metals. One can hammer it into extremely thin sheets or draw it into very fine wire. In fact, gold is so malleable that a single ounce can be hammered into a sheet more than 100 feet square and only 5 millionths of an inch thick. To put that into perspective, if you were to cover the average bedroom floor with a layer of gold the thickness of one page of newspaper, it would take 1000 of those sheets - 1000 oz. of gold - to do it! Gold is also one of the heaviest metals in the world; one cubic foot of the stuff weighs well over half a ton. Despite gold's outstanding malleability and ductility, gold is still a considered a rare metal, and with good reason: the world's entire supply of mined gold would fit into a single vault measuring 60 cubic feet, could be transported on a single ship, and is worth over $1 trillion. In addition, gold is extremely expensive to mine; it takes the extraction of 3-10 tons of nugget or dust-containing raw ore to produce a single ounce of the precious metal. Approximately half the gold currently produced in the world comes from mines in South Africa, followed by Russia, Australia, and the United States. The Homestake mine of South Dakota is the largest working gold mine in the US. Like silver, pure gold is too soft a metal for the construction of most jewelry; therefore, also like silver, gold is combined with another metal to increase its durability. The most common metals mixed with gold are copper, zinc, nickel, and silver. Pure gold is what is known as 24K, or 24 karat gold. As with silver, the various grades of gold are expressed by the number of parts of gold they contain. 18K gold is 18 parts gold, 6 parts other alloy, for a ration of 3:1, and a decimal grade of .750. 14K gold has 14 parts gold, 10 parts alloy and can be labeled .583; and 10K gold is only 10 parts gold, 14 parts alloy and may be labeled .416. Europe has slightly higher standards for gold, so in actuality, 14K gold from the US contains slightly less gold than the European grade of .583. By United States Federal law, anything less than 10 parts (10K) gold can not be labeled gold. In addition to lending gold strength, alloys can also change the appearance of gold. Use copper as your sole alloy, and the gold appears pink. More silver results in a green color, and using nickel as the predominant alloy results in white gold, which is also more durable than the softer yellow. And as a side note, all gold can turn the wearer's skin black. Such color change is the result of body chemistry and is caused by a chemical reaction; however, the reaction is more likely at lower percentages of gold than with pure, 24K gold. Gold vermeil (ver-may) is sterling silver which has been overlaid with gold. The highest quality vermeil is 24K gold, but vermeil can be made with gold as low in quality as 10K. The most common gold vermeil seems to be either 18 or 14K, but quality varies with the dealer, and as with gold, vermeil should be labeled with its karatage. Gold-fill is a process in which gold is bonded to a base metal alloy such as nickel or brass, using a combination of heat and pressure. The amount of gold used must make up at least 1/20th of the total weight of the piece, and all exterior portions are solid gold, ranging from 24K down to 10. The layer of gold in gold-filled wire is approximately 100 times thicker than that of gold plate. Most gold-filled jewelry pieces tend to be 18K, but again, the product should be labeled with its karatage, and one ought never to assume the quality of any gold. For more on the history of gold jewelry, please visit the following site(s): Riverstone
Bead Company
Copper Cosecha
Designs Artistic
Wire Many
Horses
Nickel Mankind's use of nickel dates back to 3500 BC, when it is found to have been used in bronze works from Syria. It is thought to be the "white copper" written about and used in China from 1400 - 1700 BC, and green glass once got its color from the addition of nickel. It is often used as an alloy to help strengthen silver and gold, and is a component of stainless steel. As well, nickel is often the metal beneath gold plate or fill. Many persons are allergic to nickel.
Niobium Also called columbium, niobium is one of a few metals used in jewelry which is nickel-free. It draws its names from columbite, the ore it was first discovered in, and Niobe, the daughter of King Tantalus in Greek myth. Because it is a nickel-free alloy, niobium is sometimes used to make ear wires and for body piercings, as well as artificial joints, dental implants, and in pacemakers. Niobium is a white refractive metal, however, it can be anodized and colored in a wide variety of colors, and is very popular in teal, blue, and purple.
Pewter Once an alloy of tin and lead, pewter is now most often made of tin, antimony, and copper or bismuth and is sometimes called Britannia metal. Pewter made with lead is poisonous, and certainly older pieces of the stuff should not be put in one's mouth, as odds are good they contain a reasonably high concentration of the stuff. It is an extremely soft metal with a low melting point, and was extremely common and widely used during the Middle Ages, for everything from food service to decorative objects for display, such as etchings, hand-engraving, and jewelry. Pewter was in fact the chief source of material for dinner and drinkware until the advent of china and glass in the late 1600's. England was the center of pewter production, although the American colonies also began making large quantities of around 1700. The pewter craft had all but disappeared by 1850, but the 20th century saw a resurgence in the popularity of pewter jewelry and objects for display. As well, the collection of older pieces of pewter became popular, though very few pieces have been preserved, due to the material's low value and the ease with which it can be destroyed, both accidentally and for reuse. Lytha
Studios Fire
Mountain Gems Land
of Odds
Platinum The most valuable of the precious, or noble, metals, platinum has actually been in use much longer than some people think. The ancient Egyptians were the first to utilize the metal, beginning in 1200 BC. While historians are uncertain of the value placed on the metal in the Egyptian culture, the sarcophagus of the princess and High Priestess Shepenupet, daughter of the King of Thebes, is decorated with gold and platinum hieroglyphics. Also of platinum and found with the princess was a small casket holding documents, which today remains in the same condition in which it was carved 2500 years ago. The Incans made nose rings and other ceremonial jewelry out of platinum, and King Louis XVI of France so adored the metal that he declared it the only metal fit for a king and ordered its use in everything from his jewelry to his sugar bowl. Ironically, platinum draws its name from the Spanish "platina," given to it by the Spanish conquistadors, who thought the metal useless when they encountered it during their quest for gold in Ecuador in 1590. The name means "little silver," and one rampaging conquistador, Antonio de Ulloa y Garcia de La Torre, so believed the metal to be useless that he ordered his men to throw it back into the Pinto River, as the natives believed platinum ripened into the gold because it was found with on the banks of the river. Platinum is an extremely hard metal, and it was not until the early 19th century that a way to make it more malleable was discovered and Louis Cartier became the first person to fully realize the beauty of platinum jewelry. He was, however, beaten to the creative punch, so to speak, by Russian jewelry Peter Carl Fabergé, who, in 1884, created the first of his legendary eggs for the Tsar of Russia out of platinum. From 1912 to 1939, platinum was the reigning king of metals and the jewelry of choice until the start of World War II caused the United States government to declare it a "strategic metal" and ban its use in all but military applications. It was not until the latter part of the 20th century that platinum soared back into the height of fashion. Thirty-five times more rare than gold, platinum is the rarest of metals, requiring the mining of 10 tons of ore to net a single ounce of the metal. The main sources of platinum today are Russia and South Africa, though small amounts are found in Columbia, the US, and Canada. It is used in an almost pure form and in the US is only alloyed with other Platinum Group Metals such as rhodium, iridium or palladium, though it may be softened with small amounts of silver or copper in other countries. Pieces marked PLAT or PT 950 (may also be marked 950 in the UK) must contain at least 95% platinum, while pieces marked IRIDPLAT or 900 may be composed of 90% platinum, 10% iridium. Platinum is very heavy and long-wearing, and because of it's almost pure state, does not tarnish.
Rhodium The newest kid on the jewelry metals block, rhodium was discovered by British scientist W. H. Wollaston in 1803, a direct result of his work with platinum. The compound in which he discovered the metal was red, so Wollaston took the new metal's name from the Greek "rhodon," meaning rose. Rhodium's primary uses in jewelry are as a strengthening alloy in platinum and as an electroplated coating on sterling silver, white gold, and base metals to bestow near permanent shine and increased durability. Rhodium is the rarest of all non-radioactive metals, is very slow to tarnish, and is undamaged by most chemicals, though silver dips should be avoided. We do not advise rhodium-coated jewelry, as with all finishes, rhodium will eventually wear and need recoating, which can be cost-prohibitive.
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hat's
the mettle of a metal? Why do we like it and use it in designs? What attracts
us to it, and who the heck decides this stuff is desirable and aesthetically pleasing,
anyway? Beauty and worth are most certainly in the eye of the beholder, but availability
plays a definite part in the cost of all goods, and metal is no exception. Precious
metals tend to be more rare than base metals, hence their higher cost. Silver
lies in that nether realm of in between, certainly not a base metal, yet plentiful
enough to be a rather inexpensive precious metal. There are a wide variety of
metals used in jewelry today, and certainly some people are happy constructing
jewelry pieces out of plain yellow or white metals. Handcrafted Jewelry assumes
you have come here seeking information and links on the finer aspects of handmade
jewelry, so we have chosen to concentrate on silver and gold, with some information
on copper, rhodium, and platinum. We have included links at the bottom of some
sections; for more links, please see the beads and findings pages. It must be
said that Handcrafted-Jewelry.net makes no claims as to the quality of goods or
services sold by any of the listed vendors. We provide these links as a service
to you and can not be held responsible for any dissatisfaction you might experience.
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