Monday, June 1, 2009

The Nature of Silver

Silver has been mined since the beginning of time. Silver mines in what is now Turkey had large scale silver mining operations as long ago as 2500BC. Silver was used in the production of plates, coins and jewelry in both the ancient Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. Greek and later Spanish silver mines provided more than 1000 onzes of silver per year to fuel the world ‘s uses of silver for the first 1000 years after the birth of Christ. After the discovery of the New World in 1492, silver production grew as the world’s appetite and uses for silver grew. By 1800 more than 1.5 million troy onzes were taken from mines in Mexico with additional amounts being mined in both Peru and Bolivia. In addition through out the 19th and 20th century significant amounts of silver were discovered and mined in both the United States and Canada.

Of the three precious metals platinum, gold and silver, silver is easily the most abundant. With mines producing more than 20 tons of silver a year, it is used in the fabrication and manufacture of everything from coins and jewelry to photography and medicine. Because it is an excellent conductor of electricity, it also has numerous uses in the electronics, nuclear and auto industry. Silver’s overall use in the jewelry industry continues to grow as fashion trends continue to favor a white metal over yellow and as the other two precious metals, platinum and gold, become more expensive.

Silver is truly a white metal and with the advances in tarnish resistant silver alloy, it is easy to maintain. Because it is less expensive and lighter in weight than is either platinum or gold, jewelry fashioned in silver can be made more substantial and durable. Relative to gold it has a lower melting temperature and thus can be combined with yellow gold to create “two tone” or multicolored jewelry. The silver used in jewelry is traditionally a mixture of pure silver or fine silver and copper with silver being 92.5% of the mixture and copper the remaining 7.5%. This combination is called sterling silver.

Sterling silver has come a long way in the manufacture of jewelry. Today, in addition to using only sterling silver in the creation of jewelry, it is also combined with diamonds, many different types of precious (ruby, emerald, sapphire) and semi precious stones to create a line of high fashion jewelry. Silver is featured prominently in the designs of many of the world’s finest designers and its use in high end designer jewelry continues to grow as fine jewelry stores like Tiffany and Cartier expand their use of the metal. Jewelry made from sterling silver is both durable and affordable and can be an attractive alternative to almost any piece of jewelry made from gold or platinum.