Alright, I like rock music and there was a song with this title and even a movie.... Today, I'm talking about .999 fine silver bullion! Ah, yes... real silver. I do use sterling, but I really like to use the fine silver ingots and coins for some of my projects. I can mill these pieces and imprint images on them and do so much. Another interesting thing to mention is when enameling metal, fine silver or copper needs to be used.
The price of silver has gone down and is around $20.00 an ounce. However, when you go to buy sterling silver sheet or pre-made chain, the price can be up to $25.00 to $27.00 per ounce. This is off the high prices of over $50.00 an ounce not too, too long ago. I do have receipts in my toolbox for sterling sheet I had purchased well over fifteen years ago for $7.90 an ounce. This goes to show you how all over the place bullion and sterling silver prices can go.
This all has to be considered when pricing jewelry. Depending on the budget of many, they may make jewelry with brass, or copper. I like to use copper for a variety of projects and many like the warm color. It's been said to have some healing properties if worn close to the skin for those suffering from arthritis. There is much written on the net regarding this subject. It's great to use for larger pieces like cuff bracelets and book marks.
I knew an old time jeweler many years ago and he said he wouldn't waste his time making jewelry in sterling silver and only used yellow gold. At that time, we talked about gold being $600++ an ounce for a high and that was maybe in the early 80's. I can also remember gold being priced around $249.00 an ounce about 17 or 18 years ago. This past year gold has dropped from over $1900.00 an ounce to $1250.00 or so an ounce. It's interesting to watch the various markets and follow how banking and the financial outlook impacts so much.
My friend Bob was a master jeweler and watchmaker at one time. He really was right for his skill set. He was using diamonds, fantastic colored stones and he would hand build everything with filigree and milled all his own gold. He was a genius at what he did and I was fortunate enough to spend some time with him in his studio. He's gone now, but I have two beautiful pieces of jewelry he made. I drew up the design for one of the pieces and he made it just how I envisioned it.
What gets me about the metal is I view the fine silver as so much more than the sterling sheet. It's almost pure silver bullion and it has more trade value. I understand with the work I do, I'm milling it and sometimes almost removing most of the mint images, but it's still almost pure silver. That really means something.
The sterling sheet is thinner and because it has other metals alloyed in, it may be stronger in thinner pieces. I guess it all depends on how work hardened anything is. There is a purpose, place, time and use for almost anything. I love the sterling wires, gallery wires and pretty bezel wires for many projects.
I can tell you within a few days, some of this bullion with be milled, hit with a torch, drilled, sawed and turned into something completely different. Can't wait!
