Precious metals
Nowadays, products made from a wide variety of materials, from ceramics to amber, are available for public sale and at budget prices. Gold is a noble metal, from which various accessories have long been produced. Only this metal is not at all the absolute leader in the jewelry industry. In every store you can find gold earrings, platinum cufflinks, bronze brooches, and silver bracelets.
Silver is especially valued for its low cost, but few people know that it comes not only in steel color, but also in yellow, white, gold and even pink. And while most of these colors are achieved through sputtering, the yellow-golden color of silver is achieved through oxidation. This means that such a product will not lose its presentation for a long time.
Recommendations for care, cleaning and storage
Jewelry made from precious metals is quite unpretentious, but still requires certain conditions: such things must be stored in dark, dry places, separately, preferably in special cases or covers.
Gold is practically not subject to oxidation, but needs to be cleaned from contamination. If necessary, soak the items for several hours in aqueous solutions of dishwashing detergent, hydrogen peroxide or ammonia. Afterwards, the jewelry should be rinsed under running water and wiped dry with a napkin.
For more thorough care, you can purchase specialized liquids for cleaning and polishing precious alloys in jewelry and hardware stores.
Before cleaning or using cosmetics, it is recommended to remove jewelry to avoid interaction with aggressive substances and prevent possible oxidation.
Story
Until the middle of the second millennium AD in Egypt, silver was valued much more than gold, because in terms of the number of nuggets mined, gold was much more common. Only later, when the ratio of precious metals throughout the world became known, silver was inferior in value to gold.
From the mid-thirteenth century in Europe, silver began to be used to make dishes and cutlery, coins, and jewelry for men and women. Since this metal has antiseptic properties, it was often used by alchemists for their work, and jewelers also created amulets and amulets from silver for children and women.
On the territory of Rus' at that time there were no sources of its own where silver could be mined, so there was an active trade in precious metals. In particular, this happened in Nizhny Novgorod, as one of the most important shopping centers receiving merchants from all over Europe.
During the Middle Ages there was a sharp rise in all areas, including technology, culture, and science. Therefore, new ways of processing metals, mining them, creating jewelry and devices appeared. Silver was valued for its flexibility in processing, its softness and ease of creating shapes. In addition, even at home, silver can be cleaned with improvised means, so it quickly gained popularity for creating products such as home decoration, tools, dishes and cutlery.
A budget option
Indeed, silver costs much less than its gold counterpart. The point is not only that there is several times less gold, but also that silver easily loses its beautiful appearance with frequent contact with the skin: blackness appears, which must be cleaned until it shines.
But even despite this, silver products are a good choice for those who want to get beautiful or designer jewelry at a low cost. And the exclusivity of silver can be a pleasant bonus to your purchase. This is exactly the metal that can be perfectly disguised as gold and at the same time it will maintain a low cost.
How to care?
To clean a product that has undergone oxidation, you can use a special cleaner purchased at a jewelry store . You need to put the jewelry in this liquid for a certain time specified in the instructions. This will return the product to its original color and shine.
You can also rub the product with a special polishing cloth.
At home, you can clean silver using toothpaste. You need to apply it in a thin layer to the product, rubbing it in lightly, and leave for a few minutes, and then rinse under running water.
You can also use foil. Add a tablespoon of baking soda or salt to a glass of hot water and stir them well. Add aluminum foil, a few strips will do. Place a silver item there, just don’t rub it. After half an hour, remove and rinse under running water.
Products below 925 standard can be cleaned with citric acid or lemon juice. For 925 silver, this method is unacceptable; ammonia can be used here. Add 1 ml of ammonia to 10 ml of water and lower the product there for 30 minutes. Afterwards, rinse with water, then rub with a soft cloth.
Crash test of yellow silver products is in the video below.
Source
Golden color
In retail stores you can often find silver jewelry with gold plating, which only slightly increases the cost of the product, but does not give it durability.
Few people know about the existence of yellow silver without sputtering. This characteristic color is obtained due to the addition of copper, which, by the way, additionally protects this precious metal from oxidation. In school chemistry lessons, an experiment is often carried out: a yellow precipitate of salt is isolated from silver nitrate. Jewelry made from this precious metal is given a golden color by adding other elements, such as copper. For example, zinc or silicon.
Yellow silver - what is it?
The natural color of silver is white. And this is the only color of pure silver.
At the same time, there are products made of non-ferrous metal, which many call “yellow silver”, not taking into account the fact that jewelers use this phrase in a figurative sense, because neither science nor technology contains such terminology. We explain below why silver turns yellow.
Natural causes
First of all, old silver items can acquire a yellowish tint (sometimes reaching a completely obvious yellow color). We all remember that silver is susceptible to external influences, so it is not surprising that after a long time, a Saxon silver tea set, stored under glass in a museum, becomes off-white. Some effects are so expressive that antique silver begins to resemble gold, and therefore it is not worth restoring it to its original form.
Products can acquire a dirty yellow tint as a result of everyday contact with the body. The notorious acid-base balance, sweat and oil secreted by the skin, perfumes, clothing care products, medications taken, health problems can change the color of silver jewelry, including towards yellowish.
Environmental factors: the presence of impurities in the air of heavy metals, sulfur, acids contained in raindrops, chemical compounds in tap water - negatively affect the appearance of this precious metal and contribute to a change in its shade.
Gilt silver
A completely acceptable and widespread technology that allows you to imitate gold products, but at the same time provide a more favorable price for jewelry products for the buyer, is gilding of silver jewelry. Its essence consists of different methods of applying real gold plating to silver, which still remains white. Thus, the yellow gold layer only covers the product, without penetrating inside or mixing with the silver.
Low grade alloys
Pure silver, like other metals, is used in its pure form in microscopic volumes in radio engineering or medicine, but in other cases it requires a combination with other metals. Increasing its strength characteristics and chemical resistance is achieved by adding alloys to the alloy: copper, aluminum, cadmium, nickel, etc. All jewelry and utility products are made from alloys, the proportions of which are determined by state standards. Violation of the proportions of other metals in a silver alloy leads to unpredictable results: silver can become brittle, viscous, and in some cases, acquire a color unusual for silver.
This happens, in particular, in the case of combining silver with copper, when the part of the latter metal in the alloy sometimes reaches three quarters. It is clear that such an alloy does not have jewelry value, it cannot bear a jewelry mark, but its artistic qualities make it possible to classify the jewelry as expensive jewelry, and in appearance draw an analogy with gold.
Rhodium plated
Yellow silver is also produced by rhodium plating. Rhodium is one of the most expensive metals of the platinum group, very beautiful, and in terms of performance characteristics it is much superior to both gold and silver. Its cost determines the thickness of the layer, and, as a result, the method of application to the product. Rhodium itself has a bluish-white color, and in order to give it a different color, various additives are added to it in the molten state. Including those that provide a yellow coating color.
If they offer yellow silver, you need to remember everything we have written and try to find out which of the listed options this silver belongs to by origin. Keep in mind that not everything that is yellow and shiny is silver.
Production technology
Old and antique silver items will naturally take on a golden hue over time, but you can also purchase new jewelry made from yellow silver. They are produced by adding various cheap metals. Fine silver comes in .999, 960 and 925 sterling and is very light in color and easily turns black over time. 875 still retains a light color, but lower grades such as 830 and 800 appear a little yellowish. Low-grade silver quickly acquires a golden hue over time. Silver below 800 fineness appears yellow.
There is silver and a red tint, but it is difficult to call it silver. This is a precious metal of 500 purity and below, which is what it becomes due to the content of too much copper. Silver is sometimes plated with rhodium, a noble platinum group metal. True, rhodium is quickly erased from the surface, which is why products made from such an alloy still acquire a black color.
Peculiarities
Yellow silver is an alloy of silver and copper. Moreover, its color changes depending on the percentage of copper. The alloy, in which half is copper, is almost reddish in color. Jewelers in their work with yellow silver use this feature to give greater expressiveness and color variety to their works of art.
925 sterling silver is light, pure silver color . This sample reports that this alloy contains 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% impurities. Platinum, silicon, and germanium are used as additional components in this alloy.
To obtain yellow 925 silver, it is coated with gold plating.
Silver with hallmarks from 720 to 830 is distinguished by a large amount of copper . This not only gives it a golden hue, but also makes it not very resistant to oxidation. Therefore, such alloys are commonly used in industry.
800 hallmark is called yellow silver . This alloy is durable, but quickly oxidizes and darkens when in contact with air. It has a pronounced yellow tint.
It is most often used to make cutlery rather than jewelry.
Sample 830 contains 170 grams of copper per 1 kg, which makes it possible to use these alloys to create jewelry. But they are cheap due to low quality and rapid oxidation.
Sample 875 is suitable for making jewelry, decorative items and tableware. There is no bright yellow color here, rather a golden tint, but such silver quickly loses its attractiveness and is difficult to process.
Hallmark 925 indicates products made from the best alloy in composition, the so-called sterling silver. All high-quality jewelry , coins, decorative items and serving items are made from this excellent composition. This type does not have a yellow tint, is the most durable and is better suited for gilding than others. Therefore, yellow 925 silver is achieved by applying gold plating to it.
And in order not to confuse it with gold, you should remember that 925 standard is only found in silver products; there is no such official hallmark for gold.
Sample 960 is used for highly artistic products. This soft alloy allows you to make plastic and thin parts, filigree curves, but for greater strength the metal is coated with enamel.
Sample 999 is pure silver, without impurities. But since it is subject to deformation due to its softness, it is not used for the manufacture of luxury and household items. It is used to create parts for technical devices.
What types of gold-colored silver products are there?
“Golden” silver is often used to create jewelry. It can be used both with other precious metals and on its own:
- Indian necklace;
- yellow silver bracelet;
- designer set of jewelry with gilded silver inserts;
- rings with copper inserts;
- the core of the flower is made using gilding;
- adding copper to a silver alloy gives unusual shades;
- ring in a combination of different metals;
- the jewelry is made of silver with the addition of other metals to change the color.
The use of materials of different colors is often used in the jewelry industry
As you can see from the photographs, products made from yellow silver salts come out to be very diverse in beauty and quality of workmanship. You can choose jewelry made from this alloy for both everyday wear and a formal evening.
How to distinguish silver from white gold?
You can only find pure gold in laboratory conditions, and you won’t find silver completely without impurities during the day: these two metals are too soft and capricious, which, believe me, would unpleasantly surprise you with their “anti-properties.” To increase strength and wear resistance, so-called white gold uses an alloy - an admixture of silver, platinum, palladium, zinc or an acceptable amount of nickel. And copper is added to silver - otherwise your “pure” silver ring would fall apart before your eyes literally after the first wear. Judge for yourself: silver is so soft and ductile that just 1 gram of it = as much as 2 kilometers of wire!
Appearances are deceptive? At first glance, the products of both silver and white gold are very similar, but if you know these simple rules, it becomes clear what kind of precious metal is in front of you, and the help of a professional jeweler may not be needed at all. And although we recommend turning to him, curiosity is not a vice, and sometimes it is a defense against the tricks of scammers
