In the western world beautiful silver has traditionally been linked to the moon and is therfore considered to be representative of the feminine and women. It is imbued with a sense of mystery, and has been used to create hand crafted jewellery for centuries.

 

Silver is very accessible due to its lower cost, and being easily worked it gives silversmiths a great deal of scope to experiment with new styles or recreate ancient designs.

Fine silver is the highest and most pure type of silver available: 99.9% silver. This pure form of silver is used by the Hill Tribes of Thailand to create beads, chains and findings. Some Karen Hill Tribe silver is featured on this site. Another source of fine silver is via precious metal clay produced from recycled fine silver particles from old film stock.  Creative artists all over the world are using this precious metal clay to produce hand worked pieces.

Sterling silver items are made of 92.5% pure silver and usually 7.5% copper. This proportion is set as a standard and assayed. If the item is less than .925 silver then it is not sterling. Sterling silver darkens with age and lack of use  due to the copper content and takes on an antique patina. Fine Silver does not darken in this way.