Caraway Beads
Original handmade jewellery
by
Klára Bradshaw
BRASS and BRONZE
BRASS is an alloy made primarily of copper and zinc. Golden yellow brass resembles solid gold in appearance but is of course much more affordable.
BRONZE is an alloy consisting primarily of copper and tin and is usually warm reddish brown/gold.
Both brass and bronze are very durable alloys. Because of the high content of copper, they both have antimicrobial properties. They are corrosion-resistant but they do tarnish. To keep your brass or bronze jewellery shiny, please follow our jewellery Care tips.
Unpatinated bronze ring
Textured brass sheet
NIOBIUM and TITANIUM
hypoallergenic
Both niobium and titanium are beautiful elemental metals - pure, with nothing else mixed in. Since it's usually the ''something else'' that causes allergic reactions, these two metals are extremely safe for people with sensitive skin.
Because of their bio-compactibility and very high corrosion resistance they are also used in piercings and biomedical implants.
In their natural state, they are both grey in colour. Titanium is lighter grey and the harder of the two metals. Niobium is slightly darker, heavier, but more malleable. They can both be anodised to change their appearance from grey to a wide array of iridescent colours.
Both titanium and niobium are extremely durable, and anything made from these metals will last a very long time and require very low maintenance.
Titanium wire
Niobium wire
MATERIALS
These are the main materials - apart from glass - that I am using to create my jewellery:
ARGENTIUM SILVER
hypoallergenic, antibacterial
Argentium silver is a wonderful and relatively young alloy - invented only in 1991 by
Master Silversmith Peter Johns at Middlesex University, London.
Argentium 935 wire
ARGENTIUM vs STERLING silver
Both Argentium and sterling silver are alloys of silver and other metals, mainly copper.
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Argentium contains 93.5% to 96% of pure silver compared to 92.5% in sterling silver.
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Some of the copper content in Argentium was replaced by metalloid GERMANIUM, and that gives Argentium silver new valuable properties:
- more durability
- very high resistance to tarnishing (= lower maintenance!)
- it's whiter/brighter than sterling silver
- less likely to cause an allergic reaction
- firestain resistance and higher melting point (important in silversmithing)
Argentium silver is more expensive than sterling silver, but the properties and advantages over sterling are definitely worth it!
Please visit www.argentiumsilver.com for more information.
COPPER
Copper is a beautiful reddish-brown metal that has the strongest antimicrobial properties.
I use bare copper - without any coating. My unpatinated copper jewellery is not treated with any surface sealant such as wax or lacquer.
A sealant will help prevent oxidation/tarnishing, however, it's only a temporary solution as the protective layer will eventually - and unevenly - wear off, resulting in a patchy tarnish. But most importantly, some people might be sensitive to the sealants.
It is easy to keep your copper shiny - please check the jewellery care section for tips!
Copper wire - unpatinated
14k GOLD-FILLED / ROSE GOLD-FILLED WIRE
Gold-filled jewellery is an affordable, high-quality alternative to solid gold.
Unlike the cheap ''gold-plated'' option which is a base metal with only a minuscule top layer of gold that only too easily and too soon wears off, GOLD-FILLED has a much thicker layer of solid gold (5% by weight), mechanically bonded to a jewellery grade brass or silver core, and it does not wear off.
Gold-filled jewellery and objects are typically made with 12 karats or 14 karats of gold. I use 14 karats gold-filled and rose gold-filled wires in my work, mainly for ear hooks.
14k rose gold-filled wire
14k gold-filled wire