Over the last few weeks we have been looking at various . This week I will look at some of the metals used to make beads.
Sterling Silver – Sterling Silver is an alloy of Silver and usually copper. Pure Silver is to soft to be used. To be designated Sterling Silver the silver content needs to be a minimum of 92.5%. Sterling Silver is softer than Silver plated.
Gold fill – Gold fill is made from a layer of copper between two layers of gold, of 10 karats or higher. This is then rolled out to the desired thickness and made into beads. The gold must for at least 1/20th of the weight to be classified as gold fill.
Vermeil – This is Sterling Silver plated with gold.
Brass – This is a copper and zinc alloy that is a very bright gold colour.
Copper – These have a lovely reddish brown colour, but are prone to tarnishing to a dark, almost black colour. Many people complain of it leaving green marks on the skin. Some copper beads are coated to prevent the tarnishing from occurring, meaning the beads will stay bright.
Cloisonné – This is a technique where copper wire is used to make a design on a metal bead, then areas are filled in with enamel, leaving the wire exposed. The exposed wire is then painted silver or gold.
Plated - Base metal beads are immersed in a acid bath with the plating material and an electrical current is passed through it. The plating material is attracted to the base metal object. The stronger the current and the longer the process, the thicker the plating. The base metals used vary quite a bit, and can include copper, nickel and alloys.
Many metal beads have an ‘antique’ version, which is darker and not as shiny. It is quite normal for metals to change due to exposure to oxygen and other elements, but most antiquing is done with chemicals to speed up the process.
Many people have metal allergies, especially to Nickel (which is present in some base metal beads and is used as a plating as well), so care should be taken when purchasing beads to get as accurate information on the metals involved in the production as possible.
Photos Courtesy of:
Sterling Silver -
AardvarkSilverGold Fill -
LythaStudiosVermeil -
DiBaBeadsandVintageBrass -
BenMichelVintageCopper -
matsbeadsCloisonné -
EurekaEureka
Bead Types - Metal Beads10 February 2010, 5:26 amSource: Jennifer Mercer, Handmade News ColumnistDon't forget to check out
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