Why aren''t silver erings part of the latest fad?

[Pair0Ducks]

I have always been curious as to why silver e-rings or silver diamond rings are not popular in the day of plantinum settings? Is it a cultural thing or a material thing? When you think about it, why spend roughly $800/oz for platinum or $300/oz for white gold when you can spend $6/oz for silver?

Do you think the lack of silver settings is due to the psychological idea that it is too "cheap" a material for such an important icon? or is there some physical property of silver that makes it difficult to work with in a ring with mountings?

I''ve never been satisfied with the lack of information on this topic. My suspicion is cultural instead of material. We get threads worrying about how fast white gold will turn yellow, but nobody thinks that the "gold" is the problem and if you went with 0k white gold you wouldn''t have yellowing at all. Silver can definitely be one of the alloys in white gold so I don''t suspect that there is a physcial quality of silver which makes mounting difficult.

Comments are welcome...

 

[verticalhorizon]

Is perhaps silver too soft of a metal?

 

[researcher]

I'm with VH. I have several silver rings I LOVE and wear frequently during the summer (I don't have to worry about losing them in the ocean or anything), but they tend to bend pretty easily--2 have actually broken into 2 pieces. On a similar line of thinking, I was wondering why e-rings aren't made in titanium. It probably has something to do with the temperature or pressure or something, but it would be interesting to figure out!

 

[ep6585]

Bruce Boone makes tension setting engagement rings.

http://www.boonerings.com/stone.htm

 

[verticalhorizon]

Isn't titanium TOO hard to work with... esp. with delecate intracacies like engraving, pave, and little itty bitty prongs? I heard that titanium wedding bands have to be cut off using special tools in cases of emergency.

 

[researcher]

Thanks! Think they can make one in my size? That's the problem--the diamonds in the titanium settings I've seen tend to be on the smaller side (around 1/2 carat or less). Do you know of anyone who does Tiffany settings and the like?

 

[researcher]

I think VH answered my question as I typed. Want to hear something sad? A few years back I had an allergic reaction on my hands to the bubbles at one of those clubs that does foam dancing (interesting because I'd always thought it was just dishwashing soap), and had to have a platinum ring with a pink sapphire cut off! Just thought I'd share the fact that it's not just titanium that have to be cut off at times!

 

[fire&ice]

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On 6/23/2004 12:35:10 PM verticalhorizon wrote:

Is perhaps silver too soft of a metal? ----------------

Yes, it's not sensible.

 

[Pair0Ducks]

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On 6/23/2004 12:35:10 PM verticalhorizon wrote:

Is perhaps silver too soft of a metal? ----------------

To get back to the silver question, the answer to this is no because gold is softer (or more malleable) than silver. Anyway, I believe it would be just as easy to alloy the silver to make it stronger as it is gold.

As far as cutting rings in an emergency, don't think there is anything special about titanium. As a doc, I've done my time in an ED and we have special tools designed to cut rings. We'll cut anything off a finger if we think it is compromising circulation. There is nothing special about titanium in this regard.

 

[hoorray]

I know that silver tarnishes pretty quickly and to me is harder to keep clean than gold. Don't really know the answer to your question tho. F&I might. She deals with silver jewelry.

 

[Pair0Ducks]

A quote from a random webpage:

"Pure silver also has the highest thermal conductivity, whitest color, the highest optical reflectivity (although it is a poor reflector of ultraviolet), and the lowest contact resistance of any metal. Silver halides are photosensitive and are remarkable for the effect of light upon them. This metal is stable in pure air and water, but does tarnish when it is exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulfide, or air with sulfur in it. The most common oxidation states of silver are +1 and +2."

Seems like a good substance for a ring. (The bold is my adding)

Perhaps it is the tarnish quality, although it is easy enough to polish.

 

[fire&ice]

I deal with silver on a regular basis. Sterling is mixed w/ other alloys to make it less soft. Same with gold. I can bend silver with my bare hands. Silver also tends to 'break' easier. It's simply does not hold it's shape. It scratches easier & the alloys mixed w/ sterling tarnishes quickly to a less than appealing color w/ modern silver.

But, if you want to set diamonds with silver, go ahead. I *know* I wouldn't. It's got nothing to do w/ it being cheap as many of my pieces of "silver" jewelery are far in excess of the cost of a nice 1 carat diamond.

 

[Pair0Ducks]

Thanks for the info F&I. I'm not really looking right now and the most recent ring I bought was white gold. It was just a curiosity. I guess the idea of working with sterling sliver would be like working with 22k or 24k gold. I don't think many people work with such qualities of gold for just the same reasons. Perhaps there are not as many desirable alloys in silver available as there are for gold.

 

[JHeebner]

Rings made of the space grade of titatnium can't be cut through with a traditional jeweler's tool.

 

[icelady]

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On 6/23/2004 1:03:20 PM Pair0Ducks wrote: <hr size="1" As a doc, I've done my time in an ED and we have special tools designed to cut rings. ----------------

Hi POD,

This may be a dumb question, but what is an ED?

 

[icelady]

----------------


To get back to the silver question, the answer to this is no because gold is softer (or more malleable) than silver. Anyway, I believe it would be just as easy to alloy the silver to make it stronger as it is gold.

As far as cutting rings in an emergency, don't think there is anything special about titanium. As a doc, I've done my time in an ED and we have special tools designed to cut rings. We'll cut anything off a finger if we think it is compromising circulation. There is nothing special about titanium in this regard.----------------

OK, so the really dumb part was not getting your quote to come up!! Sorry, so I'll ask again, what is an ED?

 

[researcher]

I'm just taking a wild guess, but I'd say ED stands for emergency department.

 

[Mara]

From what I have heard while we were shopping for Greg's titanium ring, seems like pretty much everyone who would have a need to cut a ring off (aka hospital, fire department) has space grade cutting tools for titanium so it's much less of an issue than it was in the beginning. I don't know that I'd go a jeweler to have a ring cut off because chances are if it was that dire, I'd be in the ER or something anyway!




In terms of using silver, in my opinion silver does not look remotely close to something like platinum or white gold. The sheen just is not there...and the metal looks different. Also I have had alot of silver rings...with opals, amethysts etc and they just don't hold up. They usually bend at some point, and they tarnish and start to look dull very easily. I love my platinum because it stands up to everything, no bending from these clumsy fingers since the band was made thick, and I can scrub it with most cleansers and not worry it will fall apart over time.

 

[pyramid]

I remember reading that there is not much antique silver jewellery in antique shops because it is brittle and has usually broken by the time it is an antique. I know that silver tankards and silver frames are to be found though. One of the jewellers on the board may know for certain but I think it has something to do with work hardening where gold becomes hard and brittle when worked and needs to be annealed. Is it the case the silver is becoming work hardened just by the wearer wearing it in everyday situations due to it being soft and bending. Silver is the most reflective metal. Ofcourse, as mentioned, there is the tarnishing. I also read somewhere that diamonds should not be set in silver as it is too soft to hold them safely.