What’s That jargon?

Throughout this blog, I use a number of abbreviations, mnemonics, specific terms, and so on. I will probably spell them out the first time or so that I use them but, rather than constantly do that for those who drop in later on, I will over time collect them on this page.

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ABBREVIATIONS

ACS: Art Clay Silver, a metal clay product from Aida Chemicals in Japan.

CZ: Cubic Zirconia, a form of zirconia that is very similar to diamond in refractivity and appearance.

PMC: Precious Metal Clay, a metal clay product from Mitsubishi Metals in Japan.

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TERMINOLOGY

dapping: a process that uses a die and punches to create domes from disks of sheet metal.

patina: an acquired change in the appearance of a surface. Here, usually, a coloring of the surface, most noticeable in the valleys of the texture; patinas added to high points simply wear off, while those in the valleys will darken over time.

sinter: to make a powdered material coalesce into a solid or porous mass by heating it without letting it become liquid.

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NUMBERS & SUCH

.999 or .999fs: Fine Silver — Silver that is at least 99.9% pure silver. That is, as close to 100% solid silver as is ever possible.

.925: Sterling Silver — A mix of pure silver (at least 92.5% silver) and other metals (some or all of the remaining 7.5% will be copper; some manufacturers will include other materials too).

.9xx as: Argentium Sterling Silver — A mix of pure silver (with the percentage actual silver indicated by the number, e.g., 92.5%, 93.0%, 97.0%) and other metals (some of which will definitely be germanium, some is also probably copper, and there may be other ingredients too).

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