Posted by Alicia E. Staz on August 1st, 2007 — Posted in General
Recently, a customer who ordered a bracelet from my retail site, Beaded Royalty, completely ruined it. I suspect she wore it in a pool or hot tub (things I specifically warn against because chlorine has a burning effect on sterling). I couldn’t prove it, so I bit the bullet and refunded her money.
I believe everything happens for a reason and sure enough, this did too. Since I know that tarnish is the reaction of something with silver and solid sterling has unlimited layers to give up, I tried all the tricks I know to remove the tarnish. The tarnish came off the smooth round beads easily, however, the letters gave me more of a problem. Why would some of the sterling silver give up its tarnish and not others?
My searching introduced me to a wonderful thing called “argentium silver”. Sterling silver is, by definition, 92.5% silver and 7.5% something else (usually copper). Argentium silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper + germanium which makes it extremely tarnish-resistant. Argentium silver is (as you can imagine) extremely expensive and very difficult to obtain. However, there are other types of tarnish-resistant sterling as well. Researchers have been experimenting with substituting different elements for some of the copper in sterling silver for years. I suspect that the smooth round beads were a slightly different alloy of silver, but I can’t prove it (my supplier wasn’t aware of any special properties).
I am hoping that in the future, tarnish-resistant sterling silver will become more prevalent and accessible. In the meantime, treat your sterling with care and respect and it will bless you with many years of beauty.
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Posted by Alicia E. Staz on January 4th, 2007 — Posted in General
My friend Polly at Families with Purpose has invited me to join in this fun game. Thanks, Polly!
- I am a TV junkie when my favorites shows have new episodes. The shows that can drag me away from just about anything are 24, Prison Beak, CSI:Miami, House, Standoff and Grey’s Anatomy.
- If I am having a bad day all it takes is chocolate to make it better.
- I fell 12 feet out of a tree when I was 28 and (only!) shattered by leg and ankle. I thank God for keeping me safe.
- I ran competitively for 8 years in high school and college. I ran for fun (huh?!) for another 6 years before breaking my leg.
- I have started watching Seseme Street with my 2 year old. I think Cookie Monster is a riot!
Some people I admire and would like to know more about are Gina Ritter and Crystal Unrau.
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Posted by Alicia E. Staz on September 2nd, 2006 — Posted in General
So which is better…solid sterling silver or silver-plated? I think the answer is obvious enough, but aren’t silver-plated beads much cheaper? The answer is yes, they are cheaper. But as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Silver-plated beads are - exactly as they sound - some other material coated with a very thin layer of silver. That layer of silver can (and does) wear off over time. How long it takes to wear off depends on several factors:
What is underneath the silver? This is known as the “base” of the silver. The best material to have underneath is brass. Silver with a steel or aluminum base is not as valuable and will feel noticeably lighter. This is easy to determine if we are talking about a silver serving tray, but not so easy if we are talking about a 4mm silver bead.
The next factor is the coating over the base between it and the silver. If the piece is coated with a combination of nickel, copper and zinc, it will accept (or bond) to the silver better. There is no way to determine this, so you just have to hope the person who did the plating knew what they were doing and didn’t cut too many corners.
The final factor is the thickness of the silver coating. Silver tarnishes over time…that is a fact of life. It will happen whether your piece is solid sterling silver or silver-plated. The difference is what is revealed underneath when it is polished. When you polish silver, you are removing the layer of tarnish and revealing the “fresh” silver underneath. In a way, it is like peeling an onion. If your piece is solid sterling silver, you will never find anything besides more silver. If it is silver-plated, eventually the silver will wear off and you will get down to the base material - usually not very pretty.
So how thick is thick enough? A cheap piece will be coated with 1-3 microns of silver plating. It will only take a few polishes for the silver to wear away completely. If the piece is coated with 8-10 microns, you should be in good shape. 25 microns is about as thick as silver plate gets.
With beads there is no way to tell what is underneath. It could be brass, aluminum or even plastic. AND, if the material wasn’t coated properly before being plated, the silver will come off in flakes and you will have a real mess on your hands. I decided when I started making jewelry that I would never use anything but the best. All of my jewelry is made from solid sterling silver. I intend for it to be worn and passed down to the next generation.
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Posted by Alicia E. Staz on August 20th, 2006 — Posted in General
Welcome to Handmade Sterling Jewlery! I hope to make this one of your favorite blogs so please check back often. Here’s a little bit about me:
My name is Alicia Staz and I am the owner and sole designer at Beaded Royalty. I started this blog because I love sterling jewelry. I used to wear nothing but gold, but once I discovered sterling silver, I never went back.
Before my son Joshua was born, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry (where I was a Project Manager). I really enjoy research and writing so this is a natural outlet for me. If there is a related subject you are interested in learning more about, contact me. I will research it and post the results.
Welcome to Handmade Sterling Jewelry! I look forward to getting to know you!
Alicia E. Staz
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