Gyrogami Products

Metal Flowers
Kinetic Ornaments
Metal Origami
Last Rites List
Other

Gyrogami Blog - Precious Metals, Jewelry, Artwork

Softness of Silver and Gold

Blog Index

Categories: Instruction and information

Word count/read time: 393 words; 2 minutes

Any metal used for jewelry save tungsten carbide will eventually get scratched or dinged unless permanently enshrined in an archival museum storage facility. Regardless, durable jewelry has been made from all kinds of metals, creating the most stunning works imaginable.

From a scientific standpoint there is no arguing that pure silver and gold are soft at 2.5 to 3 on the Mohs scale. Household dust is closer to 6 or 7. That is why rubbing your finger across a gold or silver object inevitably will leave small scratch marks. Hardened silver and some specialty alloys are a bit more robust but they're still silver.

I have been wearing 0.999 fine silver bracelets 24 hours a day for more than five years now as of the time of the writing (and still as of 2/2022, so 12+ years). Swimming in chlorinated pools and salty oceans, exercising, working with tools on heavy machinery...they get serious use in all conditions and seasons, seeing more abuse in a few years than some would see in a lifetime.

They obviously don't maintain a mirror polish. However, the character from the minor surface marks enhances their beauty...natural texturing which now throws light in every direction. Any damage is negligible, cosmetic at worst.

Metals have various states of hardness: dead-soft, ¼ hard, ½ hard, ¾ hard, hard, and spring. Dead-soft is when a metal is fully annealed; it is most pliable, ductile, and malleable. Spring is the other extreme which is generally more brittle, less susceptible to scratching or deforming, and less malleable.

Make no mistake that annealed pure silver is as soft a metal as imaginable. It is difficult to work with something so pliable and easily damaged.

Hardening can be achieved through working and manipulating the piece or mechanical surface treatments like bead blasting and tumbling. Regardless, pure silver or gold pieces will not disintegrate from daily use or become unrecognizable after a few months. They are still metal though less susceptible to hardening than alloys.

There is one huge note of caution about setting stones in pure silver or gold. Normal prong settings are totally inappropriate and will fail. Tension-set is a decided no-no. Therefore, a bezel-style or inset mount would be necessary, or the stone would have to be otherwise secured in a manner not reliant on the outright strength of a small portion of metal.

Posted by M: May 15, 2015

Please email any thoughts or comments regarding this post.

Previous Entry . . . . Next Entry

Comment Section

NOTE: Your comments will be included in this section as long as they aren't illegal. This section is censor-free so show me your intelligence or ignorance and everything in between!

2024

Fly on the Wall

Greed Won Out

German Silver

Save It for Desert

Toeing the Line

Time for a Redo

USPS Is Broken

Not Enough Space

Jump Ring Stretcher

Nope! That's Not Green

2023

Mandrels

Twistin' the Night Away

A New Batch of Lazy

Industrial Origami

Just a Jig-olo

Seeing Stars

How Much Do I Know?

I'll Believe in AI When...

Making Chain Link Jewelry

I Used the Mother Excuse

I Can't Read

My 200

Jeweler I Am Not

Cuts Like a Knife

Rolling on a...Roller

A Matter of Perspective

Making an Earring

Laser Focused

"Made in the USA"

The Earth Is Flat

Review: Microfold Brake

Mining, Whining, and Pining

Toolbox Upgrade

Jewelry Lies

Spring Back or Jump Ring Ahead

Steel...in Pure Silver?

Food for Thought

Cloudy, Chance of Buttercream

Step It Up

Artist? It's Relative

Chemical Dependency

2022

Free Energy

Nose, Septum, and Cartilage Rings

Price Gouging

The Lottery Bite

Forgiveness

I've Been Served

Criticism Welcome

Improved Driver's License

Pinch-Cut Ring Excuses

Mind Your Own Business

Look What You Bought

Review: Rustoleum Floor Coating

Cleaning the Floor

Five-Star Reviews

Artist Collaborative

Not So Believable

Monopoly: A Bored Game

Responsible Jewelry

A Difficult Customer

Viking Knit Chains

Too Many Choices

Made in America

Are You Qualified?

Hallmarking and Selling

Just an Earwire

Apostrophe 'S'

Handmade Lie Revisited

My Private Idaho

Display Booth

Parameters

Synners, All of You!

Death of a Prototype

Get Jiggy With It

Doping Ain't Bad

Manufacturing Time

Toxic Jewelry

I'm Stumped

Elegant Impressions

Experience Matters...Sometimes

2021

The Other Seventeen Fifty

What Is Your Superpower?

Repurpose Your Heirlooms

It's All About Price

That's a World Record?!

Welded the Proper Way

Honesty Is a Bad Policy

Yep, It's My Fault

Don't Give Up

Sharpening a Pencil

Thanks for the Fraud

Recall Gone Crazy

Oops, Wrong Baking Soda

Four Days of Work

House It Goin'?

Hunting Flies

It's Only a Hole

Beauty Is a Story

Invasion of the Bugs

Changes Ahead

How Campy

Me the Not Gourmet

Aftermath

Scared Shitless

A Riveting Experience

With

Review: Disc Cutter

Let's Get High!

Movin' on Up

Clothesing Time

Lemonade

Closing Jump Rings: Fixes

Closing Jump Rings: Action

Closing Jump Rings: Primer

But Is It Edible?

A Short Pencil...

Stamp of Approval

Storm the Capitol

Wire Drawing Machine No. 2

2020

Man Versus Machine

Review: Durston Rolling Mill

How Much Wire?

This Holiday Season

Loop-in-Loop Chains

Byzantine Graduated Necklace

4:33pm Saturday

My Personal Jewelry

Chainmaille Finger Rings

Leather-n-Lace

Show Booth

A Most Difficult Bracelet

Location, Location, Location

It's a Win/Win But I Lost

Follow Me - I'll Bribe You!

Wire Drawing Machine

Unique, One-of-a-Kind, Custom

Clasps Everywhere

Reward Yourself with Jewelry

It's the Tumbler's Fault!

Riveted Cuff Bracelets

Boycott Power

Review: Tronex Carbide Cutters

Pricing Items - Labor

Pricing Items - Materials

Pricing Items - Your Market

Micromaille Challenges

New Earwires Are Here

Some Are Dreamers; Others, Weavers

Jewelry from the Stars

Barter: The Permanent Currency

Gerbil Exercise Balls

Solid Gold Chain, V6

Solid Gold Chain, V4 & V5

Your Privacy Is Yours

Solid Gold Chain, V3

Hypo-allergenic? Maybe, Maybe Not

2019

Solid Gold Chain Updated, V2

Review: PEPE Superior Ring Bender

Does Handmade Matter?

Quality Is Important!

Sustainably Harvested

Another Paper Cutter?!

Solid Gold Chain Updated

Eco-UNconscious Recycled Packaging

Celebrate Your Hobby

Internet Selling Venues

Review: Ringinator

Spoon Rings and Utensil Jewelry

Make It Stick

Aspect Ratio

Road Trip

Those Damn Findings!

Weld, Solder, and Braze

Ironing the Shower Curtain

Townies to the Rescue

A Lesson Learned

Let's Get Ready to Tumble!

Hardhat? For Real!?

Coil Winding Machine

Coiling Wire on a Mandrel

Which Mesh Purse?

Pre-ruined Jump Rings

Anatomy of a Bad Closure

What Picture?

The Lowly Jump Ring

Jewelry Has Meaning

Drawing and Making Wire

A Tactile Element

2018

Shop Local

Schwag Conundrum

Sterling Silver Plated

Custom Pumpkin

The Crucible

Energy Jewelry

Theory of Art

Assets Beware

It Sing Lush

Be a Better Liar

Cutting Jump Rings

It's Hammer Time

Building a Chain

Solid Gold Chain

Customer Service

An Unexpected Deal

Refining Process

Panning for Gold

Shipping

F*#k This

The Scrap Pile

Imperfections Everywhere!

2017

Craft Fairs

Corrosion Proof...NOT!

Conflict Materials Revisited

Ethics, Please!

Bigger Isn't Always Better

Value and Price

Handmade Jewelry

Gold What?

More Chinese Fake Silver

New Digs

Silver Is Special

2016

Chainmail Buyer's Guide, Part 6

Chainmail Buyer's Guide, Part 5

Chainmail Buyer's Guide, Part 4

Chainmail Buyer's Guide, Part 3

Chainmail Buyer's Guide, Part 2

Chainmail Buyer's Guide, Part 1

Things That Don't Exist

Chainmaille Not Welcome

Intellectual Property Theft

Know What You're Selling

Blinding Stupidity

Call a Medic!

Recent Commission

Bracelet Sizing

Extreme Jump Rings

2015

Holy Micromaille!

What Business Name?

Collectibles: Trash or Treasure?

Weights of Common Sterling Items

The Quest for Tools

Reporting Fraud

Jewelry Myths

Counterfeit Precious Metals

Conflict Metals, Minerals, and Gems

Softness of Silver and Gold

2014

Troy Weight Measurements

These Metals Are Not Silver Either

Testing for Silver, Conclusion

Testing for Silver, Part 2

Testing for Silver, Part 1

Identifying Silver Alloys

Silverplated or Sterling, Part 2

Silverplated or Sterling, Part 1

How Thin Is a Mil or Mill?

What Is Silver?

What Are Precious Metals?

divider

(c) 2024 Metals by Mark, all rights reserved