Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
June 19, 2010
From what I heard Chinese silver is composed of several metals, so I wonder why it has "silver" in its name and is it, in fact, regarded as silver by the jewelry industry? Is wearing a Chinese silver jewelry piece considered cheap?
June 26, 2010
Chinese silver is a metallic alloy composed of 58% copper, 17% zinc, 11% nickel, 11% cobalt, and 2% silver. This metallic alloy is indeed used to make jewelry. However, it should in no way be considered as 'genuine' silver jewelry, since, for a metallic alloy to be termed silver, it must be composed of at least 92.5% pure silver. Chinese silver is often used as a substitute of pure silver since its combination of nickel, zinc and copper make the alloy extremely durable, while pure silver is quite malleable. Also, since Chinese silver has such a low concentration of pure silver, it is considerably less expensive than actual silver jewelry.
June 23, 2010
Chinese Silver is simply a term used to describe silver items that have originated from China. Therefore, as opposed to common belief, Chinese silver cannot be categorized into one specific silver purity grade. Stuart Slavid, the director of fine ceramics at Skinner, Boston says that "every [Chinese silver] piece might have a different level of purity". Chinese silver was first made for export purposes back in the 18th century and was especially designed for Western tourists. Back then all Chinese silver was made by hand and incorporated intricate designs depicting dragons, flowers, landscapes and birds. Slavid explains that Chinese silver was kept a "hidden secret" only until recently when the book Chinese Export Silver 1785 to 1885 was published in 1975. After this publication, there was a huge increase in demand for Chinese export silver. "Museums have gobbled up most of the earlier Chinese silver and more people are now interested in the field and it's a challenge to find", says Slavid. It is simply untrue to claim that Chinese silver items are less valuable than other silver items originating from other countries. In fact, early Chinese silver items are especially praised and a rare Chinese silver tea set, for example, could cost up to $25,000 dollars. It has also been noted that Chinese silver is also very hard to forge. In fact, Slavid reassures that "collectors don't really have to be concerned about that in the same way they do in other silver markets". Although Chinese silver is less familiar than Western made silver, for avid silver collectors out there these items could prove to be very appealing and valuable.
