Mixing in some engraved silver charm beads with the popular Murano glass beads creates a fashionable and special personalised bracelet.
Silver is one the most popular precious metals. As with other precious metals silver is ductile and malleable, which means that it can be drawn into wire or beaten into sheets and is therefore ideal for use in jewellery.
Silver has uses other than jewellery. All through history silver has been used to contain liquids and other substances to preserve them and stop them going off, including wine, water and milk. Silver contacts were used on the first telegraphy machine in 1832 and silver nitrate is the substance that made photography possible.
Its chemical symbol is Ag, derived from the Latin for silver, Argentum, meaning white or shining. 925 Sterling Silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals.
The term "Sterling Silver", referring to 925 grade of silver, first emerged in England in the 1200s. "Sterling" is believed to come from the Old Norman French esterlin (meaning little star) and Old English "stiere" (strong, firm, immovable).
"Sterling" and "pound sterling" as commonly used words developed over a period of time. "Sterilensia" is the first historical mention in 1078 and the term sterling had appeared by the 13th century.
Silver was first mined and used for jewellery during the Bronze Age and could be found all over Europe and West Asia.
Fine silver is generally too soft for producing large objects, and in Sterling Silver, the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give strength and preserving the malleability of the silver with a high precious metal content.
Germanium, zinc and platinum are among the other alloys that can be used as well as various other additives such as silicon and boron. They may be used to reduce the risk of the silver tarnishing, or eliminating firescale, a red or purple stain.
Silver, in common with gemstones, has been given many meanings related to spirituality and to the properties it contains.
The moon and its energies are related to silver in Chinese Feng Shui. This mineral is said to mirror the soul, to strengthen the link between astral and physical bodies and to enhance a person's intuitive and psychic energies.
Silver is mystically considered to improve speech, bring eloquence. It is also supposed to attract, entrance and store the energies contained in gemstones and to draw out negative energies.
It has been linked to words like glamour, high tech, industrial, graceful aging, telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience, psychometry, intuition, dreams, astral energies, female power, communication, goddess, ornate riches, sleekness and modernity. Like the moon, whose energy controls the rhythm of ocean tides, it is said to have a soothing , calming effect.
Many believe it to be excellent for mental, emotional, physical releasing and cleansing and to works on the mind and emotions to enable one to see an overview and to attain emotional balance and patience.
Silver has the ability to energize other stones during the new and full moon and to draw negative energy out from the body and replace it with positive energy.
It is also traditionally the precious metal that is linked to the 25th wedding anniversary.
Author Resource:
A mixture of engraved silver charm beads and the fashionable Murano glass beads can create a unique bracelet. Writer Ali Withers investigates the history and meaning of silver.
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