A Comprehensive Guide On Maintaining The Appearance Ofsterling Silver

What Is Sterling Silver

What Is Sterling Silver

Fine silver (99.9% pure) is very malleable and unsuitable for producing jewelry & other accessories. Earrings, rings, dogtags & other types of silver jewelry cannot possibly be made from pure silver in the absence of alloy metal additives to reinforce its atomic structure. To utilize silver as a commercially viable metal, it has to be alloyed with copper to increase its hardness. Due to the similar natural appearances of both metals, the alloying process can be carried out without severely affecting the stretchability and appearance of the precious metal. However, as the level of purity of silver decreases within the alloy, the sticky issue of tarnishing arises, giving rise to the importance of finding an effective equilibrium balance between the percentage by mass content of Silver and the cheaper metal used in the alloy couple.

The solution, as discovered by expert chemists, is sterling silver: an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually Copper, Steel or Brass. The sterling silver standard has a minimum purity level of 925 (ie: 92.5% purity). Given the high percentage purity of sterling silver remains high, sterling silver is commonly used in the manufacture of expensive luxury jewelry and top grade luxury cutlery used by royalty.

Chemically, silver is not very reactive-it does not react on a visible scale with oxygen or water at ordinary conditions of temperature, and so does not easily form the ugly silver oxide layer . However, sterling silver is not a compound, and other metals in the alloy, usually copper, will react with atmospheric oxygen and appear as tarnish. The upside, however, is that tarnish is easily reversible by polishing: a process which chemically dissolves and removes the surface coat of copper oxide obscuring the illustrious sheen of the alloy. The one-step removal of the tarnish layer has resulting in 925 sterling silver becoming the gold standard of consumer choice.

To know more about Gothic Jewelry, the page at Chrome Hearts will be very useful and informative.

by: Jack Raymonds.

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