Learn about the metals we use

Learn about the metals we use

I planned to write a long post about all the kinds of metals commonly used in jewelry, but someone beat me to it, doing such a wonderful job I decided to link to that post on another website. You'll find the link at the end of this post.

I'm going to stick to the metals we use and what I think are the most important things to know about them.

My chief concern is to use metals that are free of contaminants like lead and cadmium. Care has been taken to assure that all our suppliers either deal in precious metals or products that adhere strictly to the jewelry safety regulations of California and the United States.

I have many vintage metal parts, but I've sorted and rejected anything that might contain undesirable elements. For example old jewelry or parts made with pot metal. It's an alloy of who knows what. Since I don't know, it's outta there. Brass is made from copper and zinc, which has similar negative aspects to pure copper. I'll use it, especially some of my gorgeous vintage parts, but not as ear wires, chains, or bracelets. Who needs green ring (caused by oxidation)?

Because many people have metal allergies, particularly to nickel, I've made it a rule to use metals that are allergy free unless specifically stated on our product page.

Nickel-free metals include niobium, gold-filled, titanium, sterling silver, silver-filled, copper, and brass. I use all of these in my designs. In the future I may use aluminum, but am not a huge fan of it.

Metals I use that contain some nickel include stainless steel, even surgical stainless steel.

If you have a copper allergy, you'll want to avoid copper, sterling silver, and brass. Anything with copper as part of the alloy. Gold can also be alloyed with copper, nickel, or palladium, but 14K or higher has such a tiny amount, it may not affect your. Our gold-filled is 14K.

Metals I don't use include pewter, nickel silver, and most plated base metals.

I've used gunmetal plated items from a suppler that follows safety rules for the content of the metals used in the base and the plating. I'm not completely happy with that. Plating never seems to last when I wear it, but I hadn't found an alternative that I could use until I recently came across some black niobium. I'm exploring that option and black titanium.

We adhere to consumer safety laws in our choice of metal and metal parts. However, our products are not meant for children.

If you have questions about the metals used in a particular piece, please ask me at info@a-clef.net.

Metals: More Information By Polly Nobbs-Larue