Nickel Silver in Jewelry

© by Rena Klingenberg; all rights reserved

Nickel silver is an alloy of copper plus nickel (and sometimes also zinc).

This jewelry metal does not actually contain any silver; its name comes from its color, although it's really grayer than silver.

Nickel silver is a relatively hard, corrosion-resistant metal that's sometimes used as the base metal core for silver-plating.

Jewelry artists can find nickel silver in sheet metal and wire form.

Of course, its nickel content means this metal will likely cause allergic skin reactions in people who have a nickel allergy.

Nickel silver is also called "German silver" because it was discovered by a German chemist and was often used as a jewelry making metal in Germany.