The Different Types of Silver to Know About Before Buying Jewelry
Silver jewelry is classic, timeless, valuable, and a long-lasting accessory with the right care. Did you know there are different types of silver? The kind of silver jewelry you choose has a significant impact on its value, maintenance, and quality.To get more news about jewelry designers, you can visit jewelryhunt.net official website.
The origins of silver jewelry started with ancient Greece but may go back further. Silver mining itself is more than 5,000 years old, and Greece had a major silver production hub as early as 1200 BC.Silver jewelry was made for centuries after the invention of silver mining. However, silver jewelry didn’t truly explode until the 19th-century. Cultures across the globe were crafting stunning pieces, from indigenous Americans in the U.S to top designers in Europe.
The demand for silver skyrocketed in the late 19th-century and continued well into the 21st-century. Today, silver is still a hot commodity for jewelry designers and collectors alike.Silver is a natural-occurring metal found primarily in mines. The world’s largest silver mines are located in Mexico, Bolivia, Poland, Australia, Turkey, and Peru. Scientists can also make artificial silver in a lab.
Silver is a type of white metal alloy. Other familiar white metals include tin, zinc, cadmium, lead, bismuth, and antimony.
Silver is an ideal jewelry material because it doesn’t corrode or succumb to water damage. It’s also resistant to harmful acids, alkali, and other types of moisture. Under high heat, silver is extremely soft and malleable, which is perfect for intricate jewelry metalwork.Silver isn’t just valuable to jewelers and collectors. It’s a vital metal for heavy industry, photography, consumer products, sustainable design, and investing.
There are a few ways silver is extracted and prepared for jewelry making. The most popular silver production method is a cyanide heap leach method.
First, the silver ore is crushed into small pieces and placed into a mixture of lime, sodium cyanide, water, and cement mixing material. The mixture is formed into heaps for silver filtering.
Fine zinc dust is used to precipitate the silver from the heap. In other words, the zinc turns the liquid silver into a solid, so it can be extracted from the heap mixture. The filtered silver is melted into valuable bullion bars.Let’s start with the purest form of silver. Fine .999 silver jewelry is the closest you’ll get to pure silver. It’s called .999 silver because it’s technically 99.9% pure silver!
This type of silver is the highest quality silver you can buy. If you compare .999 pieces to more affordable silver, you’ll notice a stark difference in shine and luster.
The only problem with 99.9% pure silver is its softness. Since it’s the softest silver of the bunch, it’s more vulnerable to scratches and imperfections. It’s the shiniest silver, but it’s not the best choice for long-lasting jewelry.
Silver-Filled Jewelry
Silver-filled pieces are one of the newest forms of silver jewelry. This is a type of layered silver designed for low-cost consumption. It’s particularly popular during recessions when silver prices skyrocket.
Silver-filled metal features a sterling-silver plating on the outside, but the inside is made of brass. Sterling silver is fused to the brass core with pressurized heat. This type of silver is ideal for affordable silver rings, necklaces, pendants, and bracelets.
No doubt, you’ve heard of sterling silver jewelry, but what is it exactly? How much silver is in your favorite sterling silver necklace?
Silver-filled jewelry contains anywhere from 5% to 10% sterling silver. A typical piece of sterling silver jewelry is comprised of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. In some instances, copper may be switched out for another metal.
Sterling silver is technically the standard silver used for all global silver markets; this includes jewelry and financial markets.
One way to know for sure if a piece of silver is sterling silver is to look for special stamps. Real sterling silver jewelry or accessories may have .925 “quality” marks on the inside surface.
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The Different Types of Silver to Know About Before Buying Jewelry
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