Basic knowledge of silver jewelry

1. What are the basic knowledge of silver jewelry?

Silver ornaments are all kinds of decorations made of silver. Silver is one of the precious metals, which is silvery white. Silver ornaments are processed by various processing techniques, and there are many kinds of silver ornaments, which are basically divided into five categories: earrings, necklaces, hand ornaments, foot ornaments and costumes.

Silver jewelry knowledge

1. Pure silver: Pure silver is silver with a silver content of 100%. This kind of silver material, due to the characteristics of silver itself, makes 100% silver soft, which is not suitable for the increasingly rich and exaggerated modeling requirements of modern fashion accessories. So it gradually fades out in use. Because 100% silver is easy to identify from the appearance, which is the true color of silver.

2.925 Silver: 925 Silver refers to silver with a silver content greater than 92.5% as the base material. It is said that this standard was first introduced and popularized by Tiffany Company. According to the national regulations, more than 92.5% of silver can be regarded as pure silver, and the symbol 925 should be marked on silver ornaments. . The reason why other materials should be added to silver is, of course, to make the substrate more plastic and more suitable for ornaments. As for other materials added, there are mainly nickel, copper, rhodium, palladium and so on.

3. 18KGP and 18KGP At present, the jewelry plated with platinum based on copper in the industry is called 18kgp, which used to be called 18kgp, but now it has developed into 18kgp. Any DD with 18KGP will be engraved with the words 18KGP or 18kgp on the jewelry surface. This kind of jewelry has incomparable advantages over other jewelry, that is, it is cheap and brings forth the new very quickly (keeping up with the trend and being fashionable and rich). Of course, inferior 18KGP products abound, with rough electroplating, unsmooth details and poor mosaic technology. Therefore, the price difference of this kind of jewelry is the biggest.

4. Copper: It can increase the hardness and plasticity of silver.

5, nickel: added to jewelry, can make the surface more wear-resistant. But some people, especially white Europeans, are sensitive to nickel, and wearing jewelry containing nickel will make their skin allergic. Pay special attention to this.

6. Silver, palladium, rhodium, etc. : Common materials for surface electroplating. Can make jewelry more shiny and antioxidant!

Tips for distinguishing silver ornaments

1, color discrimination method: with eyes, it is white, shiny, fine in workmanship, and the jewelry is printed with the store number, which is a high-quality silver jewelry; Silver ornaments with poor color and dull luster are mostly fake.

2, bending method: gently fold the silver jewelry by hand, easy to bend and not easy to break color; Stiff, barely folded colors are lower; Silver-plated jewelry will crack if it is bent or knocked a few times with a hammer; Those that can't stand a light discount and are easy to break are fakes.

3. Throw method: throw the silver jewelry on the table from top to bottom, and the silver jewelry with low rebound and smooth sound is of high quality; High-pitched, shrill voice silver jewelry thrown on the table, which is fake or of low quality.

4. Nitric acid identification method: use a glass rod to drop nitric acid on the file mouth of silver jewelry, which is brown rice color and slightly green. Dark green and black are light colors.

Maintenance of silver ornaments

The best way to make blackened silver ornaments as bright as new (simple and practical), silver ornaments are deeply loved by modern women for their simplicity, generosity and noble quality. With the continuous development of silver jewelry design and production technology, more and more women join the ranks of buying silver jewelry. However, because silver ornaments tend to turn black when exposed to air for a long time, everyone is worried.

In the past, many people used toothpaste and toothbrush to brush silver ornaments, but this method is not desirable because the black oxide layer on the surface of silver ornaments is relatively thin, which is easy to scratch the surface of silver ornaments and produce fine scratches, thus affecting the beauty of silver ornaments.

Many people like silver ornaments, but they don't know how to maintain them. They even think that silver ornaments are difficult to maintain, which is not the case. After understanding the reasons why silver ornaments turn black, we only need to spend some time in our daily life to make the silver ornaments we wear last as long as new. 1, silver jewelry should be cleaned before it is put away, and it is best to pack it in a closed bag to prevent oxidation and blackening. If the wearer sweats a lot, he can wipe the surface with a soft cloth every day to keep the luster and remove dirt. It is best to use special silver rubbing cloth for silver ornaments plated with platinum. Silver rubbing cloth can be purchased in silver jewelry brand stores. Note: Silver cloth contains maintenance ingredients and cannot be washed. 2. Daily cleaning of silver ornaments without platinum plating can be done by yourself, such as squeezing some toothpaste, adding some water, wiping with a soft cloth, brushing gaps with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing with clear water. Don't get water on the silver ornaments inlaid with precious stones, so as not to affect the firmness of the glue. It is best to clean them by professionals in the store. There are many kinds of silver ornaments and different maintenance methods, so we can't generalize them. Many online maintenance methods can only be used as reference. It's best to invite professionals in the store to avoid their improper operation and damage their beloved silver ornaments. 4, including the exquisite three-dimensional carving of silver ornaments, to avoid deliberate polishing. If you find that the silver ornaments are yellow, you should first clean up the thin seams of the silver ornaments with a small jewelry brush, and then gently wipe the surface with a silver cloth to restore the original silvery white and brightness. I suggest that if the silver cloth can recover about 80% silver, there is no need to use silver lotion and silver washing water, because these products are corrosive to some extent, and silver ornaments are more likely to turn yellow after using these products. Silver wipes contain silver maintenance ingredients and cannot be washed. 5. If the silver ornaments are not treated and collected after wearing, it is very likely that the silver ornaments will turn black. After that, remember to do daily general maintenance to prevent the silver ornaments from turning black again. Silver ornaments are difficult to rub white after many blackening.

2. How to identify silver jewelry

There are many kinds of silver ornaments with complex colors.

Silver ornaments are generally mixed with other metals to varying degrees. The higher the fineness of silver jewelry, the softer the texture and the whiter and smoother the surface. Such as silver bracelets, if pulled by hand, have no elasticity, and the color is about 95%; If it is a little elastic, the color is about 80% ~ 90%; If the elasticity is large, the fineness is below 70%.

Cut or fold silver ornaments to see the color of stubble. If the jewelry is soft, the stubble is thick and soft, slightly red, and the color is about 95%; If you bend hard by hand, the stubble is white gray or reddish, and the color is about 90%; If the hardness is large, the stubble is reddish, yellowish white or light gray, and the color is about 80%; If it is a hard bend, the stubble is reddish, yellowish, khaki and other colors, and the color is about 70%; If the stubble is red, medium and black or yellow, the color is below 60%.

Distinguish its color and authenticity with vision. High color, white, delicate, shiny, jewelry printed with manufacturers, store numbers and other signs; Low color, yellow color and rough workmanship; The fake silver jewelry is dark and not bright.

Pinch with fingers, soft and elastic, high color, easy to bend, not easy to break; The quality of the bend is hard, or barely moving, and some can't even move their fingers; The bending of silver plating or a few strokes with a hammer will crack; Fake ones can't stand bending and break easily. High-quality silver jewelry is relatively heavy, so it doesn't jump high when thrown on the table, and it has the sound of "poop"; Fake or poor quality is relatively light, and it bounces high when thrown on the table, making a crisp sound.

Look at welding. Some silver ornaments are welded, so it depends on whether the welding is clean and tidy, whether there is false welding or open welding.

Look at the brightness. It requires pure electroplating color and strong brightness.

Look at the veneer. Firm and upright.

Look at the claws. It depends on whether the claws have burrs, prick hands and scratch clothes. It is convenient to wear.

3. How to identify whether jewelry is silver jewelry?

There are many kinds of silver ornaments with complex colors.

Silver jewelry is generally mixed with other metals to varying degrees, so how to identify silver jewelry? (1) Check the hardness. The higher the fineness of the silver jewelry, the softer the texture and the whiter and smoother the surface. Take a silver bracelet of about 60 grams as an example. If you pull it by hand, it will open and have no elasticity, and the color is about 95%. If it is a little elastic, the color is about 80%-90%; If the elasticity is large, the fineness is below 70%.

(2) Look at the stubble scissors or silver ornaments, and look at the color of the stubble. If the jewelry is soft, the stubble is thick and soft, slightly red, and the color is about 95%; If you bend hard by hand, the stubble is white gray or reddish, and the color is about 90%; If the hardness is large, the stubble is reddish, yellowish white or light gray, and the color is about 80%; If it is a hard bend, the stubble is reddish, yellowish, khaki and other colors, and the color is about 70%; If the stubble is red, medium and black or yellow, the color is below 60%.

(3) Silver medicine smearing test: silver jewelry is ground into a silver tank on the touchstone (the same as gold testing) and smeared on the silver tank with silver medicine (silver medicine is a soft mixture of silver powder and mercury). Silver medicine has a high color, but silver medicine has a low color. Those who don't hang silver medicine are fakes. (4) color discrimination uses eyesight to identify its color and authenticity.

High color, white, delicate, shiny, jewelry printed with manufacturers, store numbers and other signs; Low color, yellow color and rough workmanship; The fake silver jewelry is dark and not bright. (5) the bending method is held by fingers, which is soft and elastic with high color, easy to bend and not easy to break; The quality of the bend is hard, or barely moving, and some can't even move their fingers; The bending of silver plating or a few strokes with a hammer will crack; Fake ones can't stand bending and break easily.

(6) Silver ornaments with high fineness by throwing method are heavier, so they can't jump high when thrown on the table, and there is a "poop" sound; Fake or poor quality is relatively light, and it bounces high when thrown on the table, making a crisp sound. (7) Nitric acid identification method Use a glass rod to drop nitric acid on the file mouth of silver jewelry, and the high color is brown rice, dark green or light green; Light colors are dark green or even black.

In addition, when buying silver jewelry, we should choose the quality from the following four aspects: (1) Look at welding. Some silver ornaments are welded, so it depends on whether the welding is clean and tidy, whether there is false welding or open welding.

(2) Look at the brightness. It requires pure electroplating color and strong brightness.

(3) Look at the veneer. Firm and upright.

(4) look at the claws. It depends on whether the claws have burrs, prick hands and scratch clothes. It is convenient to wear.

I wonder if anyone knows some taboos about wearing silver ornaments?

In the13-14th century, China and Europe have developed the soot blowing method to test gold and silver.

This is also a method of separating gold and silver impurities, also known as baking pot metallurgy. In this method, samples of gold and silver to be detected or collected gold and silver are heated in a bowl made of animal ashes, and lead and other impurities form oxides, some of which are blown away by shock waves and some of which penetrate into the ashes, leaving unoxidized gold and silver.

In this way, the content and purity of gold and silver in samples or ore gold can be calculated. This method is also used in analytical chemistry so far.

Silver was called platinum in ancient China. In ancient western countries, people used the symbol of the moon to represent silver. In Latin, "silver" is argentum, which comes from the Greek argyros.

So the chemical element symbol of silver is Ag. Silver ions and silver compounds can kill or control bacteria, viruses, algae and fungi, and the reaction is similar to that of mercury and lead, but the principle behind it is still unknown.

It is also called bionic metal because of its anti-disease effect. Herdsmen in Inner Mongolia, China often use silver bowls to hold horse milk, which can be preserved for a long time without becoming sour.

According to research, this is because a very small amount of silver is dissolved in water in the form of silver ions. Silver ions can kill bacteria, and only 2% of silver ions per liter of water is enough to kill most bacteria.

The ancient Egyptians also knew to cover wounds with silver sheets and disinfect them more than two thousand years ago. Nowadays, people wrap the wound door with silver "gauze" woven with silver wire, which is used to treat some skin wounds or intractable ulcers.

Silver is not directly combined with oxygen, and its chemical properties are very stable. Strangely, in February of 1902, on Martini Island near Cuba in Latin America, the silverware turned black in a few days.

Later, it was found that the original volcano erupted, and the volcanic gas contained a small amount of hydrogen sulfide, which reacted with silver to generate black silver sulfide. Usually, the air also contains trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide. Therefore, if the silverware is left in the air for a long time, the surface will gradually darken.

In addition, the air mixed with trace ozone can directly react with silver to generate black silver oxide. Because of this, the surface of ancient silverware is not as bright as ancient gold.

Silver-palladium alloy containing 30% palladium will not turn black when it meets hydrogen sulfide, and it is often used to make dentures and decorations. Silver will not be corroded in dilute hydrochloric acid or dilute sulfuric acid.

However, hot concentrated sulfuric acid and concentrated hydrochloric acid can dissolve silver. As for nitric acid, it can dissolve silver more.

Silver is alkali-resistant, so silver crucibles are often used when melting potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide in chemical laboratories. Silver, like gold, is also "expensive" among metals and is called "precious metal". In the past, it was only used as money and decorations.

Now, silver has three important uses in industry: electroplating, mirror making and photography. Plating a layer of silver on the surface of some easily rusted metals can prolong the service life and is beautiful.

In silver plating, silver is used as the positive electrode and the workpiece is used as the negative electrode. However, silver nitrate solution can not be directly used as electrolyte, because the silver ion concentration is too high, the plating speed is fast, the silver deposition is fast, and the plated silver is loose and easy to fall off. Cyanide is usually added to the electrolyte. Because cyanide ions can form complexes with silver ions, the concentration of silver ions in the solution is reduced, the deposition speed of negative silver is reduced, and the electroplating quality is improved.

With the folding of silver, the concentration of silver ions in the electrolyte decreases. At this time, the silver cyanide complex ions are continuously dissociated and transported to the solution, so that the silver ions in the solution always maintain a certain concentration. But cyanide is very toxic, which is a big disadvantage.

The glass mirror is silvery and shiny, and the back is evenly plated with silver. But this kind of silver is not plated by electroplating, but by "silver mirror reaction": the ammonia solution of silver nitrate and glucose solution are poured together, and glucose is a reducing agent (now the mirror factory also uses formaldehyde and ferrous chloride as reducing agents), which can reduce the silver in silver nitrate into metallic silver and precipitate it on the glass, so a mirror is made.

The thermos bottle is also silver and silver-plated. Silver is of great significance in the manufacture of photographic photosensitive materials.

Because photographic paper and film are coated with photosensitizers, which are all silver compounds-silver chloride or silver bromide. These silver compounds are very sensitive to light.

They decompose when exposed to light. There is more decomposition in the place with strong light, and less decomposition in the soil fertility with weak light.

However, the "image" at this time is only faintly visible and must be revealed to be clear and stable. After development, the unexposed excess silver chloride or silver bromide on the negative is removed.

The image on the negative film, contrary to the real scene, is called negative film-where the light is strong, silver chloride or silver bromide is much decomposed, and the color is dark (the black thing on the negative film is extremely fine metallic silver), but the place with weak light appears whiter. When printing a photo, the black and white of the photo is opposite to the negative, so it is consistent with the tone of the real scene.

Modern photography technology has been able to take very clear photos in a few tenths to hundreds of seconds under the weak light of matches. Today, the world's silver used for film and photography has reached 150 tons every year.

[Edit this paragraph] Silver jewelry 925 pure silver actually refers to the silver content of 92. 5% silver

925 represents the purity of silver. This is the highest purity silver, just like the purity of 999 gold.

Because Ginta is soft and easy to oxidize, 925 silver has been internationally recognized as pure silver since Tiffany Company was founded. Silver is an active metal, which easily reacts with sulfur in the air, making silverware black.

Therefore, contact with air as little as possible when wearing, and it is not suitable for wearing in places with strong chemical gases. After contact with sulfur soap, it must be dried immediately.

Chlorides in sweat can also affect silver. Silver and gold can't be worn together, which will cause silver to turn yellow.

Of course, even if different fashions are used for a long time, silver ornaments will still oxidize and change color, whether or not they are electroplated! Primary colors, polished surfaces, the simplest. Just wipe it with a silver cloth.

If there are cracks in the unpolished surface, it can be cleaned with silver water. The electroplating surface should be wiped with a soft cloth to avoid contact with chemicals (such as bath liquid, soap liquid, chemical reagents, perfume, etc.). ) Because the electroplated layer is very thin, the wiping of felt cloth and the destruction of chemicals will affect the surface brightness.

According to the historical definition, Tibetan silver is an alloy containing about 30% silver, but.

5. How to prevent silver jewelry from blackening?

Many people like silver ornaments, but they don't know how to maintain them. They even think that silver ornaments are difficult to maintain. That was not the case. The chemical properties of silver are not as stable as platinum and gold, and it is often oxidized to black or yellow by water or other chemicals in the air, losing its luster. After understanding this feature, we only need to spend a little time in our daily life to make the silver ornaments we wear last as long as new.

1, the best way to maintain silver jewelry is to wear it every day, because human body oil will make silver emit moist and natural luster (there are exceptions, of course, some people's sweat itself contains ingredients that make silver black). When you don't wear it at ordinary times, you should put it away, and it is best to pack it in a closed bag to prevent the surface of silver ornaments from being oxidized and blackened by air.

2, the daily cleaning method: squeeze a little toothpaste on the silver jewelry, add some water, knead it properly until white bubbles appear, then rinse with water to restore brightness. 3. Don't wear other precious metal jewelry when wearing silver jewelry to avoid collision, deformation or wear.

4. Keep the silver ornaments dry, don't swim with them, and don't go near hot springs and seawater. 5. Wipe the surface of silver ornaments with a soft cloth every day to keep luster, but it is best to use a special silver cloth, which contains silver maintenance ingredients and cannot be washed with water.

6. If the silver ornaments show signs of yellowing, clean the fine seams of the ornaments with a small jewelry brush, then drop a drop of silver emulsion on the paper towel to remove the black chlorine on the surface of the silver ornaments as much as possible, and then use silver cloth to restore the original silvery white and brightness of the ornaments. 7. It is suggested that if the silver cloth can recover about 80% silver, it is not necessary to use silver lotion and silver washing water, because these products are corrosive to some extent, and silver ornaments are more likely to turn yellow after using these products.

It is difficult for silver ornaments to turn white after many times of blackening. 8, the use of silver cloth, first of all, you have to distinguish whether there is electroplating; Electroplated silver jewelry: that is, the inner layer is pure silver, and the surface is being treated with current. Electroplating is generally divided into electrogold and platinum. The way to identify electroplating is that its surface is brighter than pure silver, like a mirror, with good reflective effect and less oxidation.

The simple treatment of electroplating silver jewelry is as follows: 1) First, buy a pack of alum from a nearby Chinese medicine shop or drugstore; 2) Boil the silver jewelry you wear with a certain proportion of water (water must be boiled); 3) Take out the silver jewelry, put it in cold water, and clean it with a soft brush (such as toothbrush) dipped in toothpaste or laundry detergent or salad; 4) Blow dry with a hair dryer, and then wipe with deerskin, as bright as new. Electroless silver jewelry: easy to lose luster due to vulcanization. Sulfur dioxide in the air reacts with silver to form a layer of silver sulfide on silver ornaments, which is the same as the apple will slowly turn black after being cut. ).

The simple treatment method of electroless plating silver jewelry is as follows: 1) bake silver jewelry with fire to destroy its surface structure, and the baking time depends on the size and thickness of silver jewelry, commonly known as overheating); 2) After cooling, boil it in alum water, then take out the silver ornaments, put them in cold water, and use a soft brush (such as toothbrush) to dip toothpaste or laundry detergent or salad for cleaning; 3) blow dry with a hair dryer, and finally polish with silver cloth or silver powder to show the true color of pure silver; (Note: This method is not applicable to the following silver ornaments: a .. Silver ornaments are plated with plastic or something.

B. Vulcanization (Vulcanization: When buying silver ornaments, the black part of the silver ornaments will be engraved with black if there is a totem pattern) 9. There is also a little trick to brighten silver ornaments, which is put forward here for your reference; If you want to make the newly bought silver ornaments brighter and avoid blackening, you can apply a thin layer of transparent nail polish on the surface and then apply it every ten days. If you want to remove nail polish, you can soak it in aromatic water and then wash it with clear water.