From time to time we find that our customers approach us with a question about which jewelry materials they should buy. It is often the question whether it is worth sacrificing a few extra kroner on jewelry materials of e.g. steel or sterling silver rather than brass.

Have you had the same thoughts? - So let me tell you what we tell our other customers.

The price of the materials you buy is related to the quality of the piece of jewellery. This also means that the more expensive materials you buy, the more durable and resistant your jewelery will be. Shortly said.

"Buy more expensive, save the hassle"

Before we dive into the story about brass, it is REALLY IMPORTANT for us to mention that this post specifically deals with jewelry parts that touch larger parts of our body. This means necklaces, bracelets, anklets and sometimes rings.

Earrings, on the other hand, are a different matter and here we encourage people to try our brass earrings if they want to start out with making their own jewellery.

Here it has been shown that our ear hooks, creoles, ear studs and ear chains are solid and durable in their gilding. This is due to the smaller contact surface at the earlobe, which means that the piece of jewelery is not exposed to the same amount of body oils, sweat etc.

For this reason, we recommend our customers start out with brass earrings.

Reach. Shouldn't we go ahead and get you a little bit smarter about brass?

Here it comes. It is a well-known secret that brass tends to get ugly on the surface. This is a result of several things. First of all, we expose ourselves and our jewelery to a little bit of everything in everyday life. Things like cleaning products, shampoo etc. is all something that has an impact on the metal.

Not only that, there is a chemical reaction between your body and the metals in the brass. The reaction is harmless to us humans, however the consequence is a not so nice piece of jewellery. It's a bit of a stretch, but unfortunately bodily fluids such as sweat and oils are some of the biggest culprits when it comes to jewelery parts that have worn down and become ugly on the surface.

If you are getting tired of not-so-nice jewellery, and would prefer to avoid the above, then you have three options here with us.

Option number two is to buy your materials in steel. There are several reasons why we think you should consider buying your materials in steel and they come here.

1. Rarely becomes ugly on the surface.
2. Solid and durable gilding
3. Resistant to water and moisture.
4. Ideal for those who suffer from allergies or generally have sensitive skin.
5. The inexpensive alternative to sterling silver jewelry materials.
   

Good enough, you have to pay a little extra for steel materials, but the price is offset by the strong durability, solid gilding and persistently nice surface of the jewelery part.

In fact, we experience customers who come to us with a surprise that their brass materials lose their gilding relatively quickly.
You will rarely experience this with jewelry materials made of steel. The reason is simple and it is simply because steel can withstand more or less everything it is exposed to.

For that reason, we have also advised several customers to buy their jewelry materials in steel. This has resulted in many subsequently returning with positive feedback. Here, great satisfaction is reported, as they no longer have to suffer with materials that lose their gilding or silvering.

However, we must remember to mention that metals and gilding behave differently, depending on the wearer of the piece of jewellery.
For the vast majority of our customers, steel is the optimal choice when it comes to jewelry materials. However, you may find that you are one of those where the gilding can still disappear. This leads us on to option number three, which is sterling silver jewelry materials.

The last option we want to present you with is sterling silver. Sterling silver is a precious metal, which means that the piece of jewelery contains such a large amount of silver that the value of the material is attributed to a higher value and hence the name, precious metal.

Of course, this also means that the material price is higher, but the price is totally worth it.

If you're looking for nice, durable and timeless jewelery that you can carry with you for the rest of your life, then there's no beating around the bush here. You should choose sterling silver.

Below we give you some reasons why you should choose sterling silver jewelry parts the next time you need to shop for jewelry materials.

1. Sterling silver is extremely durable and lasts a lifetime.
2. One of the purest metals available and therefore no problems with allergies and sensitive skin.
3. Easy to keep clean.
4. Higher selling price (for you jewelry makers who make and sell jewelry).
5. The cheap alternative to jewelery parts made of gold and platinum.

If we've convinced you that your next piece of jewelery should be sterling silver, look out for the 925 stamp, which is your assurance that the jewelery materials you're looking at are sterling silver.