Our Product Story
In its natural state, silver is soft, second only to gold in malleability. To increase its hardness and strength, it is usually alloyed (or fused) with another metal. Sterling silver is an alloy containing 92.5% silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper, and is often marked .925. In jewelry, where hardness is not as critical as it is in other applications such as tableware, purer silver may be used. In fact, some jewelry, particularly from Thailand, may be up to 99.9% pure and may be referred to as pure or Thai silver.
Coral jewelry has a timeless appeal. Thousands of years ago, the red jewel of the sea was familiar from India to Italy as a beautiful talisman with mystical healing powers. There has been a coral trade between Naples, Italy, and Marseille, France, for thousands of years, and a number of the ancient towns buried by Mt. Vesuvius eruptions were known for coral work and cameo-making. 13th century explorer Marco Polo noted the use of coral for fashioning idols in Asian temples. It is one of the seven treasures in Buddhist scriptures, and Tibetan lamas use coral rosaries. Long thought to be a strong talisman against bleeding, evil spirits, and hurricanes, coral ornaments and inlay have been found in Celtic tombs dating back to the Iron Age.
|
