Silver reacts to sulfur. If you know anything about this element, it’s everywhere. De hecho, humans have used sulfides for years! It is in the air we breathe, soil, common beauty products, smoke, fertilizers, foods, gasoline, pollution…etc.. The list is so long there is no way to cover it in a blog, but trust […]
Archivos de Categoría: Noticias de joyería
There are two commonly used tests to determine the silver content in an alloy. X-ray testing is non-destructive but requires special, expensive equipment. Jewelry must be sent to a lab for x-ray testing. This test is fairly accurate on most silver items. Sin embargo, it can be fooled by layered metals and some types of […]
There is a great deal of quality silver coming out of Bali, Tailandia, and Mexico; sin embargo, that silver should also be marked and identified with a quality stamp and/or quality disclosure. There are also much lower grade silver alloys from these nations that are described with just the nation of origin. The name of […]
Tibetan silver and many other types of silver described as “tribal” silver etc are base metal alloys that are only silver in appearance. Contents of the alloys vary tremendously and many contain no silver content whatsoever. Some of these imports from exotic lands contain dangerous metals such as lead. Buyer beware. This jewelry should […]
Nickel silver is a bit of a misnomer because “plata” describes the color of the metal and not the content. This is a base metal alloy consisting of primarily copper with nickel and/or zinc. This type of silver is an inexpensive base metal that is similar in appearance to sterling but, again, it contains […]
This is a base metal type of silver with an extremely thin plating layer of silver applied to the surface. Even when jewelry is described as fine silver-plated, the overall silver content is a tiny fraction of a percent. Silver-plated jewelry is affordable costume jewelry. Plating can tarnish and will eventually wear off to […]
Silver-filled is a new layered metal that was introduced during the recent surge of silver prices during the recession. It is not an alloy because the metal content is not the same throughout the material. En cambio, the sterling silver is all on the surface. Silver filled is either 5% o 10% sterling silver by […]
Jewelry sold as just “plata” is a bit of a mystery. The term is thrown around in the market as a color descriptor, especially in fashion. Sin embargo, in the jewelry trade, items should be clearly identified as a specific standard quality. If not, it is unlikely that the silver alloy is of very high […]
Coin silver was once a more common alloy in the United States. It is now fairly rare and the name causes quite a bit of confusion. The technical “coin silver” alloy is .900 plata, o 90% plata y 10% cobre. The name “coin silver” is because metalsmiths historically made items from melted down scrap […]
Non-tarnish alloys are fairly new to the market. Argentium is one brand but there are others available that are similar. These alloys are a minimum of 92.5% silver though some will be slightly higher in silver content. The remainder consists of copper and the addition of the element germanium. The germanium makes the alloy […]