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Sterling Silver Ring with weird markings...
Hi,
I recently bought a sterling silver ring, which is properly stamped as ..925, and there's no other part of the ring that's not silver.. and on the band and around the face of it that surround the stone, are starting to develop little stains that are the color of a very light penny. This started happening after I washed it using Infusium-23 shampoo.. with a toothbrush (to get to the hard to reach spots..) It doesn't look that bad and it's pretty much only noticeable if you really look at it carefully. The areas this is forming is indeed sterling silver and not some cheap copper or whatever metal. Maybe this is from some of the alloys seeping through or the polish fading off? Still something makes no sense. I tried taking pics with it.. but with the camera and all that I have, it isn't showing up right at all. |
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#4
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"Marilee J. Layman" wrote in message ... On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 10:11:21 GMT, (GreenSlimer) wrote: Hi, ---snipped --- Sterling silver is .925 silver and .075 something else, usually copper. Sterling silver, by law, must be .925 silver and .075 copper, any other alloy is not sterling silver. Fred Still something makes no sense. I tried taking pics with it.. but with the camera and all that I have, it isn't showing up right at all. -- Marilee J. Layman |
#5
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On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:40:58 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Fred Mason"
wrote: Sterling silver, by law, must be .925 silver and .075 copper, any other alloy is not sterling silver. Fred Actually, Fred, in the U.S. that's not true. U.S. stamping laws dictate only the precious metal content as being 92.5 percent silver. it does not specify the remaining 7.5 percent. There are several alloys marketed these days which subsitute some or all of the copper for other metals, usually in order to deal with firescale problems in castings. They can legally be marked sterling, or "925" in the U.S. Other countries may vary, however. I'm not sure whether British law allows other than copper in sterling. they might not... (how 'bout it, you brits?) However, you are correct that the long time standard composition of sterling silver is silver with only copper added. The alloy is named according to British traditions that gave rise to our current alloys, and virtually any sterling silver made until about fifteen years ago was alloyed with copper, as the firescale free alloys are relatively recent developments. The copper free, or reduced copper alloys are most commonly found these days in mass produced cast jewelry, rather than fabricated, handmade, or stamped items. Peter |
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"Peter W. Rowe" pwrowe@ixDOTnetcomDOTcom wrote
On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:40:58 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Fred Mason" wrote: Sterling silver, by law, must be .925 silver and .075 copper, any other alloy is not sterling silver. Fred Actually, Fred, in the U.S. that's not true. U.S. stamping laws dictate only the precious metal content as being 92.5 percent silver. it does not specify the remaining 7.5 percent. There are several alloys marketed these days which subsitute some or all of the copper for other metals, usually in order to deal with firescale problems in castings. They can legally be marked sterling, or "925" in the U.S. Other countries may vary, however. I'm not sure whether British law allows other than copper in sterling. they might not... (how 'bout it, you brits?) I'd need to research as I've not read anything in a while and am only toying with the idea of jewelry again... but last time I had a play as a hobby, I remember the subject of sliver and alergies cropping up elsewhere. One point that was raised then was that sterling silver could contain nickel. Regardless of what our (UK) stirling silver may contain for the 7.5%, there are EU regulations over nickel. Jon |
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On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 07:52:28 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Jon Freeman"
wrote: I'd need to research as I've not read anything in a while and am only toying with the idea of jewelry again... but last time I had a play as a hobby, I remember the subject of sliver and alergies cropping up elsewhere. One point that was raised then was that sterling silver could contain nickel. Regardless of what our (UK) stirling silver may contain for the 7.5%, there are EU regulations over nickel. Jon Sterling silver alloys do not normally contain nickel, but nickel is indeed an issue with a lot of finished sterling silver items. The problem is most commonly one of an electroplated layer put OVER the sterling, to protect it from oxidation. Rhodium is the common one, or platings like it. These usually requiire preplating with a layer usually first of copper, and then of nickel, before the rhodium outer layer. It's that plated nickel layer that is the most common cause of nickel problems in sterling jewelry. Peter |
#8
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Hi,
Not sure about the laws regarding Sterling silver over here in England. Our assay marks generally only specify it as .925 , so presumably the rest can be anything. True Sterling silver however is always considered the alloy of .925 silver, the rest copper, as this was the standard coinage alloy adopted in the 12th or 13th century, from a place called Easterling, Germany. Peter W. Rowe pwrowe@ixDOTnetcomDOTcom wrote in message . .. On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:40:58 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Fred Mason" wrote: Sterling silver, by law, must be .925 silver and .075 copper, any other alloy is not sterling silver. Fred Actually, Fred, in the U.S. that's not true. U.S. stamping laws dictate only the precious metal content as being 92.5 percent silver. it does not specify the remaining 7.5 percent. There are several alloys marketed these days which subsitute some or all of the copper for other metals, usually in order to deal with firescale problems in castings. They can legally be marked sterling, or "925" in the U.S. Other countries may vary, however. I'm not sure whether British law allows other than copper in sterling. they might not... (how 'bout it, you brits?) However, you are correct that the long time standard composition of sterling silver is silver with only copper added. The alloy is named according to British traditions that gave rise to our current alloys, and virtually any sterling silver made until about fifteen years ago was alloyed with copper, as the firescale free alloys are relatively recent developments. The copper free, or reduced copper alloys are most commonly found these days in mass produced cast jewelry, rather than fabricated, handmade, or stamped items. Peter |
#9
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UK Assay requirement for Sterlin silver is 925 parts silver per 1000,
no mention of other components. Solder must be 650 parts per 1000 and not be "used for weighting or filling". EU nickel directive is more complex and relates not to content but to amount released per unit of area - unmeasurable by all but a lab I suspect. Andy Parker, Agate House Lapidary Ulverston, Cumbria, England www.agatehouse.co.uk Tel: 01229 584023 |
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