Silver clay can be combined with a wide range of materials, before firing: beads, copper, dichroic glass, pearls, porcelain, polymer clay, semiprecious gems, and fine silver findings.
Its easy-to-use flexibility makes it a versatile material, ideal for art colleges, home and business jewellers, ceramic cafes, craftworkers, glass studios, metalsmiths, modelmakers, and potteries.

Although fine silver and sterling silver are the most commonly used metals, a knowledge of other metals will help you make practical and creative decisions.

To put their prices in rough perspective, the November 2005 charts said: Platinum is worth twice the price of gold; gold is worth sixty times the price of silver; and silver is worth four times the price of copper.

COPPER

Copper is a soft, reddish-coloured, malleable metal, with high electrical and thermal conductivity second only to silver. The chemical symbol is Cu and it melts at 1083°C.

Copper was known to some of the oldest civilizations, and has a history of use that is at least 10,000 years old. A copper pendant was found in what is now northern Iraq that dates to 8700 BC. By 5000 BC there are signs of copper smelting, the refining of copper from simple copper oxides such as malachite or azurite. The earliest signs of gold use, by contrast, appear around 4000 BC.

The Egyptians found that adding a small amount of tin made the metal easier to cast, so bronze alloys are found in Egypt almost as soon as copper is found. Use of copper in ancient China dates to at least 2000 BC. By 1200 BC excellent bronzes were being made in China. In Europe, Oetzi the Iceman, a well preserved male dated to 3200 BC, was found with a copper tipped axe whose metal was 99.7% pure. High levels of arsenic in his hair suggests he was involved in copper smelting.

The use of bronze was so pervasive in a certain era of civilization that it has been named the Bronze Age. The transitional period in certain regions between the preceding Neolithic period and the Bronze Age is termed the Chalcolithic, with some high purity copper tools being used alongside stone tools. Brass, an alloy of zinc and copper, was known to the Greeks but first used extensively by the Romans.

Copper was associated with the goddess Aphrodite/Venus in mythology and alchemy, owing to its lustrous beauty, its ancient use in producing mirrors, and its association with Cyprus, which was sacred to the goddess.

Copper is essential in all higher plants and animals, although all copper compounds, unless otherwise known, should be treated as if they were toxic. Copper carbonate is green from which arises the unique appearance of copper-clad roofs or domes on some buildings.

GOLD

Art Clay gold, after it's fired, becomes a solid gold alloy which can be hallmarked as 22 carat gold: 91.7% gold and 8.3% silver. Gold powder sinters at 990°C, but melts at 1063°C. The chemical symbol for gold is Au, an abbreviation for the Latin aurum.
24 carat gold is 100% pure. 22 carat gold has 22 parts pure gold, and 2 parts of one or more other metals. The combination of metals is called an alloy. In the case of gold clay, the other metal is silver.

Gold is a soft, shiny, yellow, dense, malleable metal that polishes well. It's the most malleable and ductile metal known: a single gramme can be beaten into a one metre square sheet. It has been estimated that all the gold in the world that has ever been refined would form a single 20m cube.

Gold and its many alloys are most often used in jewellery, coinage and as a standard for monetary exchange in many countries. Gold will readily form alloys with many other metals to increase its strength, or create several exotic colors. For example: adding copper makes it redder, iron green, aluminium purple, platinum white, and natural bismuth together with silver produces black.

Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity, and is not affected by air and most reagents. Heat, moisture, oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect on gold, making it well-suited for use in coins and jewellery.

Alchemy is a medieval belief that non-precious metals could be turned into gold. Although personal desire and chemical optimism cannot create gold from something not-gold, the magic of the idea is still very powerful.

Gold has been used as a symbol of purity, value, and royalty since prehistoric times. It may have been the first metal used by humans and was valued for ornamentation and rituals. Great human achievements are frequently rewarded with gold, in the form of medals and decorations. Winners of races and prizes are usually awarded the gold medal, whilst many award statues are depicted in gold.

Medieval kings were inaugurated under the signs of sacred oil and a golden crown, the latter symbolizing the eternal shining light of heaven. Wedding rings are traditionally made of gold; since it's long-lasting and unaffected by the passage of time.

PLATINUM

Platinum is a silvery-white, heavy, malleable, ductile, precious metal, resistant to wear, corrosion, and tarnishing. The chemical symbol for platinum is Pt and it melts at 1773°C.

Platinum is more precious than gold. Other distinctive properties include resistance to chemical attack, excellent high-temperature characteristics, and stable electrical properties. Platinum doesn't normally cause health problems due to its unreactive nature, and platinum compounds rarely occur.

SILVER

Art Clay silver, after it's fired, becomes solid silver which can be hallmarked as pure 999 silver: or 99.9% pure. Silver powder sinters at 650°C, but melts at 961°C. The chemical symbol for silver is Ag, an abbreviation for the Latin argentum, from which Argentina was named.

Silver is a soft white-ish lustrous metal that polishes well. It's a malleable metal, with the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal, even copper, and occurs in a free form, shown in the photo, and as minerals. It's slightly harder than gold.

Silver has been used for thousands of years for ornaments, tools, trade, and as the basis for monetary systems. Generally, it was not valued as much as gold, and now silver is relatively cheap compared to other precious metals. Gold is worth about 60 times as much as silver, and silver about 70 times as much as copper.

This metal is stable in pure air and water, but all silver, not just Art Clay silver, tarnishes due to environmental oxidants and pollutants, such as ozone, hydrogen sulfide, or air with sulfur in it.

In legends, silver is traditionally seen as harmful to supernatural creatures like werewolves and vampires, particularly when made into bullets.

Silver plays no known natural biological role in humans, and possible health effects of silver are contentious. Silver itself is not toxic but most of its salts are and some may be carcinogenic.

Sterling Silver is composed of 92.5% silver and 7.5% of one or more other metals. It's widely beieved that copper always makes up the remainder, whereas palladium, platinum, titanium, and other metals are often used.

The addition of another metal to the silver creates an alloy. Sterling Silver is stronger than Pure Silver, but tarnishes more quickly. However, remember that all silver, not just Art Clay silver, tarnishes due to environmental oxidants and pollutants.