Sterling Silver’s Long Lasting Beauty
As you pick that perfect pendant or those gorgeous silver earrings that sparkle as they catch the light, know that you are part of a special tradition. Silver has been the metal of choice for jewelry and tableware for, well, thousands of years. In fact, a recent archaeological dig in Israel uncovered a 3,200-year-old cache of silver that included 5 hoop earrings.
A Brief History in Silver
Silver was first unearthed in Greece and Turkey in 3,000 B.C., and, even then, its discoverers worked to refine it to a purer form through a process called cupellation where they heated the raw metal and blew air over it. Modern popularity began in 1492 when Spanish Conquistadors found rich lodes of silver in South America. Between 1500 and 1800, most silver came from Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru. The first major silver strike in the United States came in 1857 when miners struck the Comstock Lode in Nevada. View Full Article…