Precious Metals

Alternative Jewelry Materials

James Avery offers designs with copper or bronze in combination with sterling silver. The beautiful contrast between a cool silver surface and the warmth of copper or bronze creates a rich contrast which enhances many designs.

Bronze

Bronze is a warm, golden metal that has been the choice of sculptors, metal smiths, and jewelry designers through the ages.

Bronze is a versatile metal that is much harder than pure copper and has twice its tensile strength. True bronze alloys contain copper and from 5 to 15% tin. Commercial bronze may contain tin, nickel, or aluminum. In color, it ranges from a warm red-yellow to a gold or dark brown.

Copper

Copper is one of the few elements that occurs naturally as a metal and has been used by mankind for thousands of years to create adornments.  Copper is the only “red” metal and is prized for its rosy or peachy color that darkens overtime to a brown or green patina.  To increase its strength and durability and to modify its color, copper is sometimes alloyed with zinc (to make brass) or tin (to make bronze).  It is often valued in its purest form for both practical applications and artistic expressions.

Stainless Steel

Stainless Steel is a tarnish and corrosion resistant metal that is much stronger than any precious metal.  The resilience of this metal makes it the perfect choice for a few of our link bracelet styles that are worn continuously by some of our customers.

The surgical quality stainless steel we use in making our designs is a mixture of iron with chromium, nickel, manganese and molybdenum.  The combination of these elements results in a metal with a lustrous, smooth surface that is hypo-allergenic, resists scratches, tarnish and corrosion and requires very little care while still providing a sense of beauty and fine craftsmanship.

Titanium

Titanium was discovered over 200 years ago and is one of the most versatile metals in the world.  It is a lustrous, dark silver/grey-colored metal which is attractive by itself or when used as a subtle contrast to sterling silver or gold. It is much stronger than gold or silver, yet is light weight and very comfortably worn.

The combination of Sterling Silver’s timeless beauty along with Titanium’s durability, light weight and resistance to denting and corrosion makes it an ideal choice for everyday wear especially when impact and abrasions are more likely to occur.