Here is the basic information you need to know if you are interested in the sterling jewelry business. Especially for anyone who just begins to trade silver jewelry for their business, please read this article before your business start.
1. Don’t forget to check for sterling silver jewelry finishing. There are different finishing methods for sterling silver jewelry to prevent them to turn yellow over sometime. The popular finishing methods for sterling silver are
– Nickel plating: this is a common way for finishing. Although nickel plating is illegal in some countries, but this finishing method is still be done for the sterling silver. However, the product from this method is not a great choice for anyone who got nickel allergy.
– The black antique look for some sterling silver: this look is occurred by putting the jewelry piece into chemical solution for silver oxidation reaction. Then, the jewelry pieces are polished before place in the market.
– High polishing: this way is not involved with any plating method. It is popular for the engraved items and for people who are allergic to plating metal like nickel. This step is done by a machine and will not effect to the price of the silver jewelry.
– Rhodium plating: the most expensive finishing method for sterling silver jewelry. Rhodium is a precious metal that comes withhigh price, even more that silver. Therefore, the use of Rhodium is actually effect the price of sterling silver jewelry directly. But the property of Rhodium is to help in tarnish resistant, therefore, it is recommended to go with the Rhodium plating sterling silver for the long lasting jewelry piece with reasonable price to pay for.
2. The stone cutting. Sterling silver jewelries are usually come with natural or synthetic stones set on it. Therefore, don’t forget to check onsize and the cutting of stone as it might effect to the cost of jewelry pieces. The nice stone cut would top up the price for sterling silver jewelry compare with the wrong stone cut which will reduce its value instead.
3. The stone setting. The stone can be set on a piece of jewelry in different ways. For silver bracelets and pendants, the wax setting method is the most popular one. But there are other ways called channel setting, bezel setting, pave setting and invisible setting that are more advanced and give a strong attach of stone to the jewelry body. The price of jewelry pieces are also varied according to the setting method.
