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Materials Education Series

One thing I noticed when it comes to handmade jewelry is a suspicion on the part of the buyer that they may not be getting the real deal when it comes to what the piece is made of. Granted, not every jewelry lover is a gemologist or metallurgist and so a lot of trust goes into the relationship. Is it really sterling silver? Is it really turquoise/jade/lapis/insert gem here? How come this lampwork glass piece costs so much more than others? Gold filled? What the heck is gold filled? It's crazy and sometimes confusing. Especially online where terminology is flung about sometimes arbitrarily and a prospective customer cannot handle the merchandise before buying. Accuracy is key, but what if the shopper doesn't understand the terms you use? Frustrating on both sides.

So in order to shed some light here I've started a blog series on my 1000 Markets Site that will go into detail regarding many of the materials and terms used in handmade jewelry making. I'm going to focus mainly on what I use in my work, but of course those things are not confined to me alone. Hopefully this helps with understanding between artist and customer.

First article - Argentium Sterling Silver

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