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If I make sterling silver jewelry, I set the price based on the time and material cost with a little for creativity, resulting in what I think is a good price. This sometimes backfires because people expect to pay more for Sterling silver. The reason is that there are various other silver colored metals that are often mistaken for sterling silver. This brings us to a brief definition guide of the types of silver available. Sterling Silver: The word "Sterling" represents the best known and most respected quality marking in use today. This is the most common form of silver used in fine jewelry. It consists of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% pure copper. The reason for adding the 7.5% copper, is to give the silver the strength and wearing quality it should have to hold up as a piece of jewelry. No other silver alloy has the beauty in luster and color than sterling silver. That may be why it is the most prestigious of all the silver alloys (combination of metals). 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. When silver is 99.9% pure, it is called Fine Silver. Fine silver is very soft. for this reason, it has very limited applications in silver jewelry. The part of silver jewelry that holds the stones in place is called a bezel. Bezels are often made from fine silver because it is so malleable. This makes it easy to contour and shape the bezel to secure the stone. Silver: This is the term most often used in the jewelry industry to indicate Sterling Silver. The reason for this is that Sterling Silver is the most common form of silver used in fine jewelry. Thus, it has become commonplace to refer to Sterling Silver as Silver. There is a metal alloy called "German Silver". Contrary to common belief, there is no actual silver in it. This yellowish white alloy is composed of copper (65%), Zinc (23%), and the balance is Nickel. It is most commonly used for glasses (the frame) and other decorative and costume jewelry. Nickel Silver: The composition of this particular nickel alloy is 65% Copper, 18% Nickel, and 17% Zinc. This is a very popular nickel alloy with a pleasant silvery blue white color. It is the most popular alloy used for costume jewelry and as a base for silver plated items. 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.articlewheel.com
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