| It takes many years of experience in trading | | | | Stone cutting |
| sterling silver jewelry to tell whether a piece of | | | | Sterling silver jewelry usually has natural or |
| jewelry is of high quality or not. Especially when | | | | synthetic stones set on it. The cutting of the |
| you are buying wholesale silver jewelry, a minor | | | | stones, even with the same size, might affect the |
| difference in the quality might affect your | | | | cost. For instance, the synthetic diamond cubic |
| business reputation in the long run. This article | | | | zirconia stones would cost more if they are in |
| summarizes the basic metrics for anyone who is | | | | princess cut as suppose to round brilliant cut. |
| beginning to trade silver jewelry to gauge the | | | | Furthermore, emerald cut and baguette cut |
| quality of silver jewelry. | | | | stones are even more expensive than princess |
| Finishing | | | | cut ones. |
| Most of the sterling silver jewelry has some sort | | | | Stone setting |
| of plating because silver itself turns yellow over | | | | 1. The way that stones are set on a piece of |
| time. There are several ways of finishing a piece | | | | jewelry also affects the cost. Many pendant and |
| of silver jewelry and they will affect the cost of | | | | bracelet styles employ an economical setting |
| the jewelry substantially. | | | | method called wax setting. The stones are not |
| 1. High polished sterling silver jewelry has no plating | | | | really set one by one on the jewelry. Rather, |
| on the jewelry at all and is particularly popular with | | | | they are fixed on the mold before the jewelry is |
| engravable items or for people who are allergic to | | | | cast out from the melted silver and come out of |
| certain metals such as nickel. The jewelry is | | | | the mold together with the silver. This lowers the |
| polished by machine without additional raw | | | | cost of the silver jewelry significantly. However, |
| material cost. | | | | the quality of the setting is not consistent and the |
| 2. Some silver jewelry has a black antique look to | | | | heat of the silver in liquid form might affect the |
| cater to certain consumers. These items are | | | | quality of the stones. |
| processed by putting the jewelry into chemical | | | | 2. Besides wax setting, there are several |
| solution to oxide the silver before polishing and the | | | | hand-setting methods that are widely adopted. |
| pricing is similar to that of high polished ones. | | | | The most common one is prong setting, where |
| 3. Another common way of finishing sterling silver | | | | the stones are held in place by three to eight |
| jewelry is nickel plating. Although nickel plating is | | | | prongs, depending on the style. More advanced |
| illegal in some countries, most of the Italian silver | | | | settings include channel setting, bezel setting, pave |
| jewelry sold in the market today is plated with | | | | setting and invisible setting. Understanding the |
| nickel. However, since nickel is not considered as | | | | labor costs involved in different kinds of settings |
| precious metal, the price is usually not affected | | | | is one of the keys to getting merchandize with |
| by the cost of plating. | | | | the best prices. |
| 4. The most expensive way of finishing sterling | | | | Stamping and Casting |
| silver jewelry is using Rhodium. Rhodium is a | | | | Another categorization for sterling silver jewelry is |
| precious metal that is even more expensive than | | | | the way they manufacture the metal part. To |
| silver. Therefore, silver jewelry with Rhodium | | | | save cost, some jewelry is made by stamping |
| plating is usually at least five cent more expensive | | | | and cutting the needed shapes out from a large |
| per gram. Since Rhodium has the property of | | | | sheet of silver and than bend it into the desired |
| being highly tarnish resistant and very expensive | | | | shapes. On the other hand, a more traditional way |
| at the same time, some manufacturers would | | | | of producing sterling silver jewelry is to cast the |
| coat the sterling silver jewelry with a thin layer of | | | | metal out of a mold, which is more labor intensive |
| copper before plating the Rhodium to reduce the | | | | and hence more costly due to the polishing and |
| cost. It might be a good idea to ask the vendors | | | | filing required afterwards. The way the jewelry is |
| if the Rhodium is plated directly or not because | | | | made affects the durability a great deal and |
| some people have skin type that would turn the | | | | hence the success of your business. |
| copper underneath green. | | | | |