[Jewelry making - Article 00571] - Re: [Orchid] Sterling Silver Definition

[James Binnion]

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    By law in the US sterling must contain.925 or greater silver
    content. The remainder can be anything.There is no distinction
    between jewelry and silverware or hollow ware in the US either. There
    are no laws in the US regarding nickel content so it could
    conceivably be in some sterling silver products. However nickel and
    silver don't play nice together, they are totally insouable in each
    other so the resulting mixtures (not alloys because there is no
    solubility) are not very mechanically sound if there is much nickel
    present but tiny amounts might make for a harder mixture. I don't
    know if any commercial sterling has any nickel in it but I doubt it.
    EU nickel laws dont directly prohibit nickel they regulate the amount
    of nickel released by the article. A subtle but significant
    difference. There is loads of info about this but in brief as long as
    the nickel remains bound in the alloy and is not able to be dissolved
    out of the alloy by the artificial sweat used in the EU tests an
    article can contain nickel. Saying your product is nickel compliant
    means it has passed a nickel release test that meets the EU
    specifications. 

    Argentinium Silver is sterling in that it is greater than .925
    silver content. 

Jim

James Binnion
jbin AT mokume-gane.com
James Binnion Metal Arts
http://www.mokume-gane.com
360-756-6550

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