GLOSSARY

925 Sterling Silver

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Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.

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Argentium Silver

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Argentium silver is a brand of modern tarnish-resistant silver alloys, containing either 93.5% or 96% silver. Argentium alloys replace some of the copper in the traditional sterling silver alloy with the metalloid germanium. Compared to sterling silver, argentium silver is whiter, harder and more tarnish resistant.

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Keum-boo

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Keum-boo is an ancient Korean gilding technique used to apply thin sheets of gold to silver, by first depleting a surface of sterling silver to bring up a thin layer of fine silver. Then 24 carat gold foil is applied with heat and pressure (manual burnishing) to produce a permanent diffusion bond.

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Bi Metal

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Bonded Metals or Bi Metals are two different metals bonded together, using diffusion, to form one metal sheet. 

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