Materials

 

925 Sterling Silver is a combination of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, and it is the highest percentage of fine silver possible for jewelry subject to everyday wear. Fine silver (99.9% pure) I generally too soft and malleable for jewelry. Therefore, it is usually combined with copper to give it strength, while at the same time preserving both the ductility and beauty of its original form.

TK316 Stainless Steel used in fashion jewelry is an alloy with a minimum of 10% chromium content by mass. It does not stain, corrode or rust as easily as ordinary steel, and it is also hypoallergenic. Thus, it is extensively used in heavy gauge-welded components, such as jewelry. Tusk 316 stainless steel is of the highest quality for jewelry products.

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties. For jewelry, the most commonly used percentages of copper and zinc are 67% and 33%. This mixture helps the brass become stronger and more durable than copper alone, which allows for superb electroplating quality, and thus, it is the perfect combination for fashion jewelry.

White Metal is an alloy that is light-colored and is used especially as a base for plated silverware, ornaments and jewelry. Some of the metals used to create this alloy are antimony, tin, lead, cadmium, bismuth, and zinc. Not all of these metals are found in all white metal alloys but are combined to achieve the desired need, such as being able to be casted and polished.

Iron is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. Pure iron is relatively soft but is unobtainable by smelting. The material is significantly hardened and strengthened by impurities, in particular, carbon, from the smelting process. A certain proportion of carbon (between 0.002% and 2.1%) produces steel, which may be up to 1000 times harder than pure iron.