Elegant jewelry do not come out of fashion and are valued not only for beauty, but also for high wear resistance. At all times, people believed that the purchase of sterling alloy items is a good investment of free cash, since the precious metals are constantly growing in price. Masters jewelers know that Metal AG. It is physically a very plastic material, so alloys are used to manufacture jewelry, thanks to which the precious metals receive a certain proportion of hardness, and the products of them get the opportunity to maintain the specified form.
To designate the share of impurities in precious metals, a specially designed proofing system is applied. . Thanks to the sample applied in the form of a stamp on a silver product, you can understand how many grams of pure silver is present in 1 kilogram of the alloy.
The high level of the sample means the content of a large amount of precious machine in the composition of the finished product.
Peculiarities
It is known that the sample silver alloy 925 contains at least 7.5% of the Cu and 92.5% metal AG metal, i.e. copper and silver. Copper gives strength to silver, allowing you to produce high quality products. To date, 925 trial means that in front of you is silver, the quality of which is the highest of all possible. Metal, the sample of which is S925, has such features:
- This silver alloy is easily subjected to jewelry;
- Metal is plastic, thanks to this, you can make any elements of an increased level of complexity;
- Silver alloy can be covered with a thin layer of gilding.
Performing an alloy of 925 of the samples, copper is added to clean silver, but as a result, the appearance of the product loses with the brilliance time and can darken when in contact with water. To improve the properties of the jewelry alloy, they add zinc, platinum, as well as Germany or silicon. Such additives allow you to improve the color range of finished products and their characteristics. In the world of jewelers, the sample silver material 925 can be denoted as follows:
- sterling or sterling silver;
- Standard silver or silver standard.
In addition to 925 samples, there are also 999 sample Which has more excellent qualities and high value among jewelers. However, you can hardly find in the free sale of a product from such a metal, because expensive masterpieces are performed from 999 silver.
Composition and properties
Clean silver, not having impurities, looks like a bright shiny metal brazed shade . It has an increased reflectivity, since the entire surface is mirror and reflects about 95-97% of the color spectrum. For its mirror properties, silver alloy is used not only in the jewelry sphere, but also in the production of mirrors.
In pure silver, the density is 10.4 g / cube. cm, it is twice as smaller than the density of gold, but slightly less than the density of lead. In addition, silver is tight and weighs more than, for example, iron or copper.
The proportion of such metal, as a silver of 925 samples, is 108 a. eat.
Silver has certain physicochemical properties:
- the highest thermal conductivity, compared with other metals;
- high ability to carry out electric current;
- the lowest melting point compared to other precious metals - 960 ° C;
- Metal AG is inert, it does not enter into interaction in other metals under the conditions of the natural environment, but more of all is capable of chemical reactions among other valuable metals;
- Metal Ag is dissolved in mercury, nitric and concentrated sulfuric acid, if it is heated to a hot state, but not soluble in hydrochloric acid.
With the interaction of silver metal with zinc, platinum, copper, silicon, Germany, alloy acquires various unique color shades, it also increases oxidizing ability.
Differences from 875 samples
Quite often come across jewelry having 875 sample A testimony that the alloy contains metals - 12.5% Cu and 87.5% AG. Comparing samples 925 and 875, we will see that 875 Sample does not refer to high quality due to the high level of copper additives . Objects made of sample alloy 825 may have reddished or straw halftone, and may also be dark when contact with a wet surface. Silver alloy 825 samples, in addition to copper, may contain silicon, germanium or platinum, which improve the characteristics of the material and what finished products looks like. However, if platinum will be located in the material, the cost of the jewelry will be much higher than if it was manufactured only on the basis of CU and AG metals.
In view of a low price, Silver alloy 875 samples is in great demand and is used for the production of jewelry, decorative crafts, dining room utensils. As for jewelers, they are intensively attributive to 925 silver sample to a high-class alloy, and a test metal 875 - to a second-random material. Therefore, expensive jewelry will always be made of 925 sample silver alloy, and the silver table will have a stamp with the number 875 - in all this and is the difference.
Review of species
Making the combined composition of the material, the jewelers noticed that it depends on its ingredients, and what the metal looks like. By experiments, not only various types of alloys appeared, but also methods for their decorative processing. The following types of silver are most popular.Black
The method of blinking appeared in the days of ancient Russia When silver products decorated with saturated black patterns. If you combine in certain proportions, sulfur, lead, copper and clean silver, then the substance will be the substance that in the antique called "Mobile". The finished product was subjected to artistic engraving, after which it was required to heat, while the composition for the blunders did not dissolve. The result of this work became a product that combines silver light and saturated dark shades.
Such method was decorated with silver jewelry, household items, dishes, engraving, and so on. Especially great was the demand for black silver in the XVII century. Products made of black silver alloy possessed a special strength and did not need constant cleaning.
Oxidized
Another kind of blackness, which achieved by connecting the Metal AG and Mineral S. Difficult from black silver, oxidized black was not so persistent, as the blackness was achieved by obtaining a special oxide film, which quickly came into disrepair after cleaning the product. The cost of oxidized silver is the same as the black, but when buying it was important to be not confused by each other, since they have different coating resistance.
Oxided silver Thanks to the manufacturing technology, it could give shades of black from the dark purple to black, and during polishing the product, the convex parts became shiny and light, and the concave patterns of the pattern had the effect of a certain shade.
The oxidized black is usually decorated with small product size - earrings, pendants, pendants, chains or bracelets.
Matov
It turns out by eliminating the product of natural metal glitter, What gives him a certain sophistication and resistance to the darkening. Achieve such effect by Processing the product on the sandblasting machine or rivest silver in special chemical solutions.
Gilded
It turns out by applying to a silver alloy of the finest layer of gold . Such processing adds the cost of the finished product, gives it a refined species and increases the natural resistance to oxidative processes. Not only jewelry, but also cutlery which keep them into a sour and salt environment and do not lose their original species, while the product from ordinary silver would respond with a change in color.
In addition to the listed methods, silver decorate enamel or make alloys with metal rhodium. Such silver looks in a specialty bright and distinguished by its pronounced white color.
Marking
In pre-revolutionary Russia, the stigma on silver products was put out of two digits, and after the revolution it already looks like a three-digit number.
- After the revolution 875 test It was designated, in addition to numbers, the letter and the sign of the state supervision on the penetration, looking in the form of a female Kokoshnik. During the time of the USSR, the products of the sample and the writing of the stars were put on the products. Now such products are elevated demand - collectors buy them.
- Marking 925 test It was often accompanied by the inscription Sterling Silver, since this metal was called sterling silver by the name of the Silver British coin of the same name, on which it was possible to acquire luxury items made of sample silver 925. When labeling high-quality 925 silver, you can meet such additions as Ster, sterling. 925 sample silver, except for this inscription and three-digit figures, can also be labeled by any other image adopted in the country where the product was made.
- On Gold plated silver products You can see a sample 5925, which means that 925 silver and 5 microns of gold from above are used in the product.
In jewelry stores, silver can be marked with stigma with officially recognized all-world samples - 999, 960, 925, 875, 830, 800. The remaining three-digit codes, for example, 923, 926, 929, 952 are not generally accepted.
Application
Sterling silver alloy 925 is used for the manufacture of jewelry and jewelry, which in their beauty are not inferior to models of gold. In addition, silver Make pictures, household items, cutlery, various types of fittings and stationery. Silver products at all times were demanding and were considered an excellent gift.
Cost per gram
The cost determination of 1 g of silver is performed as follows:
- We learn the cost of 1 g of silver, according to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the date we need;
- The sample determine the level of silver content in the product.
For example, we define the cost of 1 g of 925 silver samples for 01/23/2020: 36.71 / 1000x925 = 52.44 rubles. /G. It remains only to multiply the weight of the product to determine its market value.
Tips for care
So that silver products looked attractive, behind them You need to be able to care for home. Care is that the product is regularly subjected to cleaning using certain compositions and napkins - You can buy them in any jewelry salon.
The silver product is placed in the cleaning composition, hold there for some time, washed with water and dried with polishing napkins. In this way, silver products are brushed, which have no inlair. In addition to cleaning, solutions are given over alloy thin film that protects the metal from oxidative reactions.
There are other methods for cleaning silver jewelry:
- The ammonia alcohol is diluted with water in proportion 1: 10 and the product is washed in the solution or wipe it with a napkin moistened in this composition;
- Strong pollution is clean with a tooth powder or paste with a brush with a soft bristle;
- The soda is dissolved in water in proportion 2: 10, the resulting solution is washed with the product;
- Soap solution (20 g of soap on 1000 ml of water) also cleans silver things well.
Silver care is carefully made and monitored with concentrated solutions of acids, from which silver can darken, entering them to the reaction.
Performing work on the housework, at home or in the garden, the products made of silver alloy better at this time to remove, as their surface will cover with small scratches, which will lead the loss of shine - the decoration will have to polish.
About the meaning of the sample on the decorations, see the next video.