BLACK HILLS GOLD: Jewelry made in the Black Hills area of South Dakota, which frequently has a distinctive three-color (yellow, pink and green gold) vine and leaf pattern. The Black Hills Jewelry Mfg. Co. produced the original designs in three colors in Deadwood, South Dakota in the early 1900s. Many jewelers still make Black Hills jewelry today (usually in 10K gold) but by law they must use Black Hills gold. You can create a nice effect by combining rose gold filled wire, yellow gold filled wire and silver.
BLUE GOLD: 18K Gold alloyed with 25% iron (75% gold), giving a bluish tint to the metal.
BRASS WIRE: Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, sometimes including small amounts of other metals, but usually 67 percent copper and 33 percent zinc. It comes in various shapes and tempers, and is a wonderful product to practice with, although generally much stiffer and more difficult to work with in wire sculpting than sterling silver or gold-filled wire. It takes on a lovely polish, but tarnishes and becomes dull very quickly. Some jewelers work exclusively with brass wire specifically because of these properties. Jewelry made from brass wire can be quite beautiful and salable. To many jewelry artists, brass wire is considered to be practice wire and the outcome costume jewelry, rather than fine jewelry
BRONZE: An alloy containing at least 60% copper plus tin and sometimes other metals.
BRUSHED FINISH: Created by the use of a stiff metal brush along the surface of metallic jewelry to add texture, and to produce a slightly less reflective surface.
CHAIN MAIL or CHAINMAILLE: A way of joining metal rings together to produce metal "fabric." Chain mail was used in medieval times for flexible armor, and is used now to make very striking jewelry.
COPPER WIRE: Reddish gold in color, this wonderfully versatile metal was the first metal used by man for tools, implements, weapons and artwork. Copper wire use predates recorded history, and though it was later replaced by bronze and iron for weapons and tools, its popularity and usefulness has not waned in thousands of years. Copper is said to have healing properties for rheumatic or arthritic conditions. The only real drawback of copper, at least for jewelry applications, is that it oxidizes quite readily, will leave a green or black mark on the skin. To prevent that discoloration, copper jewelry is often coated with a clear protective surface, such as an acrylic, but the coating eventually wears away.
CRAFT WIRE: A craft wire is a permanently color-coated copper-based wire, which is soft and very malleable. Retains its shape moderately well, particularly in the larger gauges.
GAUGE: The measurement of the thickness of an object, particularly wire and sheet metals. Wire gauges for jewelry applications will range from a very thick 4g to a very fine 34g. You must remember that the smaller the gauge, the larger the diameter of the wire. You will find a table of gauges and their corresponding diameters in both metric and standard (U.S.) units at Table 2.
GERMAN SILVER: Also known as NICKEL SILVER, this alloy is actually roughly 60% copper, 20% nickel, and 20% zinc. If approximately 5% of tin is present in this alloy, it is called Alpaca. As you can see, there is no silver in German Silver. German silver wire is very inexpensive and you can create lot's of jewelry for pennies. It should be noted that about 1 person in 20 has a metal allergy to nickel.
GOLD: Gold is one of the most visually attractive of all metals, and because of its unique qualities, is considered the "most precious" metal. It is one of the heaviest of all the metals, does not tarnish or corrode, and is very durable. One of the first metals to attract the attention of man, its durability has been attested to by the discovery of elaborately crafted artifacts of gold in nearly perfect condition from the ancient Egyptian, Etruscan and Assyrian cultures. Gold is even used to coat other metals and make it more desireable such as gold filled wire used to create wire jewelry of all kinds of shapes and sizes. Where gems, cameos and other precious stones are used in the creation. Even the names of people are created using this gold filled wire and an entire art has been created in the last 100 years. Gold Name Wirting has been done in the US since the late 1800s.
14/20 ROLLED GOLD FILLED WIRE: Creates high fashion jewelry at a fraction of the cost of solid gold and sells extremely well because of the fascination with gold. There is 100 times more gold in 14 kt. Rolled Gold (gold filled) than in gold plate. A 14/20 Rolled Gold pendant is usually considered a lifetime piece of jewelry. 14/20 Rolled Gold is usually used for pendants, pins, collars, bracelets, and small rings. In the symbol 14/20, the 14 stands for the karat of gold used, and the 20 means 1/20. Basically, gold-filled wire is a good metal for a good price. It should always be represented properly and never misrepresented to your customer as solid gold. Gold-filled jewelry can stand the test of time.
GOLD PLATED WIRE: Gold-plated metal has a very thin layer of gold on the surface of a base metal, usually applied by the process
of electroplating. Plating makes the layer of gold a much thinner layer than Gold Filled, and it is most commonly plated with
10K gold.
MEMORY WIRE: A hardened steel wire that will retain its original shape even after repeated use. Available in a standard and
"Cadmium" (silver-colored and rust proof) finish, and in diameters suitable for rings, bracelets and chokers.
NICKEL SILVER: Not silver at all, except in color, for this alloy contains no silver, but is mostly copper (about 60%), with
approximately equal parts of nickel and zinc added. With the addition of a small percentage of tin, the alloy is then called
Alpaca. This alloy was first used in the mid-1800s by the Germans as a silver substitute.
OXIDATION: The naturally occurring chemical process in which oxygen atoms bond to atoms of another material (such as metal)
producing a different chemical compound. We are most familiar with oxidized iron ("rust") and oxidized silver, which is called
"tarnish." Copper turns green when oxidized, adding an aesthetically pleasing, aged look to roofs, weathervanes and other
outdoor decorations.
PATTERN WIRE: Also called Strip wire. Not wire at all, but strips of either base or precious metal that are stamped, embossed
or engraved with a decorative pattern. This is a great wire to make cuff bracelets. See one of our bracelets in our Jewelry
Making Ideas Section open to the public.
PLATINUM: Very strong, very dense, and 60% heavier than gold, Platinum was discovered in Russia in the 18th century. Platinum
used in jewelry is usually alloyed with a small percentage of another metal of the platinum group (iridium, osmium, rhodium,
ruthenium or palladium) and/or cobalt to increase its malleability. All of the platinum group of metals are rare, with platinum
and palladium only slightly more common, and of course they are all expensive.
ROSE GOLD: A gold and copper alloy which is used for special affects in making jewelry due to its reddish color. Rose gold is
also known as pink gold and red gold.
ROLLED GOLD: A very thin sheet of gold is laminated to a lesser metal, such as brass, then heated under pressure to fuse them
together. The fused metal is then rolled into a much thinner sheet and used to make jewelry or other objects, and is marked RGP
for Rolled Gold Plate. Rolled gold jewelry wears very well over time.
SILVER WIRE: Sterling silver wire is a fine, naturally-occurring precious metal with an almost white sheen that is used for many
purposes, including jewelry. Pure silver is usually alloyed with other metals, such as copper, for use in jewelry and
hollowware. Silver tarnishes after exposure to air, which forms a thin layer of silver-oxide on the surface. Silver often occurs
near copper lodes.
STERLING SILVER WIRE: Silver with a fineness of 925 parts per 1000 (92.5%) silver and 75 parts per thousand (7.5%) copper, which
increases the silver's hardness. Sterling is quite malleable and ductile.
SURGICAL or SURGICAL STAINLESS STEEL: Any one of a family of low carbon alloy steels usually containing 10-30% chromium. The chromium provides exceptional resistance to corrosion and heat. Other elements may be added to increase corrosion resistance to
specific environments, enhance oxidation resistance and impart special characteristics. In jewelry, which is sometimes labeled
"hypoallergenic," we see it in a few findings, such as ear wires or posts.
WHITE GOLD: Gold that has been alloyed with a mixture of copper, manganese, nickel, tin and zinc, and sometimes palladium),
giving it the look of platinum. White gold was originally developed during WW II to imitate platinum, which was at the time
considered a strategic material for military applications.
YELLOW GOLD: An alloy of gold with a mixture containing 50/50 copper and silver.
