In costume jewelry, base metals are often plated with a very thin layer of gold, silver, nickel, rhodium or other metal on the surface of the bead, finding, chain or other component.Īluminum is a soft metal, making it excellent for embossing and metal stamping, as well as layering and riveting.Īluminum does not rust, nor does it take a patina with the standard chemicals normally used to darken jewelry. Base metals may be plated or raw (bare, unplated). In metal working, base metal is any metal that is not one of the noble or precious metals. To make it stronger, it is alloyed (mixed) with other elements.īase metal is a catch-all term in the jewelry industry for metals used in costume jewelry. For example, solid gold is too soft for most applications. Jewelers and engineers create alloys to change the color, melting temperature, and/or strength of elements. Alloys can be a "base" (less costly) metal, like brass, or a "precious" (more costly) metal, like sterling silver or karat gold. More about lead in jewelry components.Īlloys are mixtures of various elements. Jewelry components containing lead are generally considered safe for adults to handle and wear externally, as adults are less likely to ingest their jewelry. Lead is now known to be related to certain cognitive and health problems (especially in children), and most governments are regulating allowable amounts of lead in jewelry components, due to the dangers of children swallowing beads or other parts of their jewelry. Lead (Pb) is an element that was popular for 1,000's of years as an ingredient in casting alloys (and some other alloys) because it makes some metals softer, less brittle and/or helps them melt at lower temperatures. Examples of elements: Oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and niobium (Nb). Elements are the basic building blocks of chemistry. Jump directly to illustration of gold-fill vs.
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