In the market, there are many varieties of metal alloys. Generally, they can be divided into two types: ferrous alloys and nonferrous alloys. Stainless steel is typical example of ferrous alloy, while bronze and brass are examples of nonferrous alloys.

Stainless Steel
Well, stainless steel is a ferrous alloy that popular used in designing various kinds of fashion jewelry. It is usually made of iron and chromium, which comes in a variety of sizes, shapes, and grades. Such kind of alloy has higher hardness and corrosion resistance. In fact, stainless steel is commonly used in jewelry making due to its ductility and strength.

Bronze
Bronze can be the oldest alloy that found in people’s daily life. Since the ancient times, bronze has been produced, and used for many different purposes, such as, weapons, tools, and ornaments etc. Bronze is a nonferrous alloy that made from copper and tin, usually, 90% copper and 10% tin. Today, it is also widely used in creating jewelry for its old and vintage feel.

Brass
Brass is one kind of nonferrous alloy which composed of copper and zinc. Usually, the copper content is higher than zinc content in brass. However, the color of brass is often determined by the amount of zinc that is added in brass. If the brass contains more zinc than copper, it will have light color. As well as bronze, brass is also commonly used to make jewelry these days.

Other Alloys
Apart from the popular bronze, brass, and stainless steel, there are many other metal alloys can be found, such as, copper alloy, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, magnesium alloy, and so on. Well, these metal alloys are less used in jewelry making, except copper.

Fun and Satisfying Metal Jewelry Crafts

Metal Supplies for Making Vintage Jewelry

About Silver Tarnish
Usually, after wear a piece of silver necklace for a while, wearer will notice that the silver turns green, sometimes, even the skin where the necklace lies also turns green. Well, the green color is usually caused by silver tarnish – a common chemical reaction between silver and other chemical compositions.

Causes of Silver Tarnish
Moisture – Any moisture will cause tarnishing in silver necklace. For example, the sweat from wearer’s body is usually cause silver tarnish.
Oxidation – Another important reason that causes silver tarnish is oxidation. When exposed to air, especially humid air, silver will tarnish easily.

Prevention of Silver Tarnish
Cleaning – If you want to avoid tarnishing, and keep your silver necklace shinning, you should clean your necklace with soda water regularly.
Storing – Proper storage is also an important to prevent your silver necklace from tarnishing. You should better store the silver pieces in clean and dry condition.
Plating – You can have your silver necklaces electroplated to prevent silver tarnish. I suggest you not plate the silver with rhodium – a less reactive metal that resists tarnishing.
Nail Polish – Paint a layer of clear nail polish on the cover of your silver necklaces is also an efficient way to prevent silver tarnish, for the coat of nail polish can keep the silver from contacting with air, moisture, and any other chemicals.

Green Color Effect of Metal Bangles

Why Metal Jewelry Turn Skin Green

Tip 1: Always remember to take off your metal jewelry when you know you will contact water. For example, if you are going to take a bath, have a spa, or swim in the pool, you should not wear metal jewelry. It is because that moisture will easily cause metal tarnish in jewelry, and then lead to metal discoloration.

Tip 2: Keep in mind to take off your metal costume jewelry while doing some household cleaning. For example, if you are washing dishes by using cleaning solution, you should not have metal alloy rings in your finger. Contacting with cleaning solution which contains chemicals will cause metal corrosion, and lead discoloration.

Tip 3: Be careful to keep your metal jewelry away from any cosmetics like perfume or hairspray. The chemical ingredients in perfume and hairspray will react with the jewelry metals, and then cause discoloration. So, you should better put on metal jewelry after applying perfume, hairspray, or any other cosmetics.

Tip 4: Paint a layer of clear nail polish on the cover of your metal jewelry. It is really an efficient way to keep metal jewelry from discoloration. The coat of nail polish will prevent your metal jewelry from directly contacting with water, sweat, and any other chemical materials that will cause discoloration.

Tip 5: Regularly clean the metal jewelry pieces and store them in good condition. Clean the metal pieces after every-time wear, or at least once a week, to remove the substances that may lead discoloration. You’d better store individual piece in jewelry box or plastic bag, to avoid exposure to air, strong sunlight, or moisture.

Why Metal Jewelry Turn Skin Green

Metal Jewelry Drawbacks That Matter

At present, it is a hot trend to create jewelry with loose beads at home. In fact, creating metal jewelry by hands is also possible if you pay enough attention and learn some skills.

Materials
Taking a quick search into the jewelry market, we can find there are large varieties of metals for making jewelry, both precious and cheap. Gold and platinum are two precious metals that found in jewelry. While for homemade jewelry, we often refer to cheap metals, including Tibetan silver, Thai silver, sterling silver, bronze, brass, copper, steel, silver plate, and gold plate etc.

Supplies
When it comes to jewelry making, it is important to note jewelry supplies. In the market, it is very easy to prepare metal jewelry supplies, from beads to findings. In fact, metal beads, metal wire, metal clasps, and metal findings are all available. So, jewelry makers can get what they need to complete their metal jewelry making.

Designs
While making jewelry at home, it is important to decide the design. As well as jewelry materials, jewelry metals can be used to create various kinds of fashion accessories, like earrings, necklaces, pendants, and bracelets etc. You can work out your personal style to select the suitable designs.

Well, some people may hold the opinion that creating metal jewelry is difficult. Thus, they never have a try. As a matter of fact, the process of creating jewelry with metal supplies is not such complicated as some people imagined. With attention and skill, everyone is able to complete a perfect metal jewelry to finish a vintage look.

Metal Supplies for Making Vintage Jewelry

Metal Jewelry Drawbacks That Matter

925 Silver is also named as sterling silver. But it is different from pure silver, and much cheap than real silver. In fact, 925 Silver is a kind of silver that has been made with 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. The combination of copper enhances the hardness of sterling silver, which make it perfect for designing fashion jewelry. However, 925 Sterling Silver which contains copper can corrode easily, which make silver cheap jewelry look faded, and even severely tarnished.

People with silver pendants will often find the pieces look faded. Since 925 Silver is not pure silver, it is not suggested to clean it with silver polish. Then, how to solve such problem? Here are some tips for preventing silver pendants from fading.

1. Regularly clean your silver pendants, at least once a week. You can sweep silver pieces with warm water, or mildly acidic baby shampoo water. If necessary, you can use a soft toothbrush or makeup brush to scrub the surface. But you should be gently and lightly. Then, wash the pendant with clean water, and dry it with a soft cotton cloth.

2. Paint a layer of clear nail polish on the cover of silver pendants. It is really an efficient way to keep silver pendants from fading. When contacting with people’s skin, the metal will react with the acidity in the skin of people. Such chemical reaction is one of the main reasons that make silver pendant look faded. Well, the coat of nail polish will prevent silver pendant from contacting with people’s skin directly.

3. Proper storage is also important to keep silver pendants from fading. As we all know, moisture is the main reason that cause corrosion in all kinds of silver jewelry. Therefore, you should better store your silver pendants in dry environment. What’s more, I recommend you place individual pieces in jewelry boxes or plastic bags if you have a large collection of metal jewelry.

Why Metal Jewelry Turn Skin Green

Metal Jewelry Drawbacks That Matter

Following are some advantages of metal jewelry, and you can take them as reference:

Vintage Style
Now, vintage style is leading the fashion world. Many fashionable people show great passion on this hot trend, and like to wear clothing or jewelry in vintage styles. Well, metal jewelry is often standing out, for they can create an old and vintage feeling. Though metal jewelry may lack shine and luster, they are still favored by many fashionable people.

Cheap Price
Apart from the precious metals like gold and platinum, most metals are available at affordable prices. In fact, as well as most cheap loose beads, the most popular metals include Tibetan silver, Thai silver, sterling silver, and alloy, bronze, copper, brass, silver-plated, gold-plated, and stainless steel are relatively cheap that people can afford to buy.

Wide Selection
Looking into the jewelry market, there is a large assortment of metal jewelry for fashionable people to select from. On one hand, metals for jewelry making appear in many different colors and patters, like silver, alloy, and silver-plated metals etc. All these affordable metals offer people a lot of choices.

On the other hand, there is a wide array of metal jewelry in different designs, including earrings, necklaces, pendants, brooches, bracelets, bangles, and rings etc. So, people can choose their favorite metal jewelry designs to wear.

Unisex Jewelry
In general, metals would be the most common materials in making unisex jewelry pieces. There is no doubt that most metal jewelry pieces are suitable for both men and women. This character of metal jewelry makes great contribution to its wide popularity.

Cheap Metal Jewelry Tends

Vintage Beads Are Great for Jewelry Making