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Colourisation of silver

#1

This may be a silly question.

I was in a jewellers shop yesterday and they had some crucifixes
that were supposed to be sterling silver, however they werent solid.
They were also yellowed in color. As though they were made to look
like gold… is this correct? Is it the pickling process that makes
silver look this way? I know that they were designed this way
because they had alot of them, and they were all identical.

Mind you they were selling them cheap, @ $25 $AUD, and were on
special for $12 at the time. The silver she was talking about looked
more like German Silver to me because they didnt seem to have the
weight i would expect in a solid piece. Its a little disconcerting
if they are selling “german silver” items as silver because this is
supposed to be one of the top mass production jewellery chains in
western australia.

Trevor Ffrench (the other one)
@Trevor_Ffrench

#2

Trevor Perhaps these Crucifixes are cast with De-Oxidizing Grain, To
me it has a more whitish hue than traditional Copper based alloys.
This alloy to my eye have a deeper tint, also there is a difference
in the specific gravity, the De-Ox being lighter in weight per given
mass. I really don’t like the material as it will never mature and
get a true aged patina regular Sterling will. However, it is very
convenient, No fire scale, large difference in porosity problems,
amuck better. In addition, the merchandise requires less polishing
from shop wear. The down side is that it is softer than Copper Alloy
Sterling; it’s more like Fine Silver. That is what the color most
reminds me of. Another thing that displeases me with it is, with a
CU. Alloy I can cast a 50-50 cleaned sprue to fresh grain mix and get
good results, At the same ratio of De-Ox I’m not happy with my
results, I’ve found that the Alloy I get from my supplier works
better a 60% new to 40% sprue./previously cast metal. Of course AG./
CU. Would respond accordingly as well. Any way just a thought, it
seems that a lot of casting done in Silver any more is done in
De-Oxidizing silver Kenneth Ferrell

#3

Thanks Kenneth,

While I did not understand alot of the terminology you used there, I
get the gist. What you were essentially says was that:

  1. Some Jewellery shops might get some items made that way to cut
    down the need for polishing (for their own staff but also for the
    customer)

  2. Its possibly quite soft compared to other similar materials so it
    might damage easily

  3. Its convenience might be attractive as they can sell them at a
    lower cost but also larger quantity as they look pretty as a single
    item.

Trevor Ffrench (the other Trevor)