Stainless Steel in Jewelry Manufacturing

Today, many companies manufacture jewelry from stainless steel. This is especially attractive with the high prices of precious metals. There is little jewelry manufacturing information published for those that sit at the bench and who may come across stainless steel or desire to create with it. This presentation will remove the mysteries of working with stainless steel in the small shop setting, detail common, readily available alloys, highlight steps for working with stainless steel, as well as showcase examples of stainless-steel jewelry in production today. From the skills necessary to touch up a stock piece of stainless-steel jewelry all the way through cutting, fabricating, machining, soldering, and finishing, this paper will leave the reader with the skills necessary to work with stainless steel and also how to combine it with precious metals.