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Showing posts from October 23, 2011

A bit about silver filled wire

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As I'm sure all of you know, the price of precious metals has sky rocketed this year. This not only makes it difficult for the small business jewelry designer, but also the customer as well. So, in looking for a alternative to sterling silver, I've been experimenting with other metals. Stainless steel wire is too "hard" of a metal to manipulate and work with. It is good to use as in a finished chain or finished ear wires. The newest metal to come from distributors is silver filled. I took the plunge and bought some in 16 gauge to experiment with. It is just half the cost of sterling silver, and claims to be 100 times thicker/stronger than silver plate, which would mean a piece of jewelry would hold up and last much, much longer and continue to look good and be wearable. Here's my results. I found it to be true to what has been published about it. Looks the same as sterling, has the same feel and reacts the same. Dead soft wire performs well. You can hammer it, tex