Stainless Steel Sterling Silver or Plated Zinc Choosing Metal for Worn Pieces

The single most common quality complaint in accessory manufacture is a plated base metal used where it should never have been. Here is the decision rule.

Constant Skin Contact Means Stainless Steel or Sterling Silver

A pendant worn daily sits against skin, sweat and cosmetics for hours at a time. Plated base metal tarnishes and can mark the skin within months of that exposure. This is why our menorah, Star of David, Chai and Kabbalah necklaces are made in stainless steel or sterling silver rather than plated zinc alloy, and why they are supplied on stainless steel or sterling silver chains rather than a mixed-metal chain that would fail first.

Bag and Garment Hardware Means Stainless Steel 304

Hardware fitted to leather is exposed to moisture and to the tanning chemistry of the leather itself. Corrosion at the fitting does not just damage the plate, it stains the material around it permanently. Stainless steel 304 with a lacquer coating over the plated surface is the specification we use for logo plates and similar fittings.

Occasional Wear and Decoration Means Plated Zinc Alloy

Lapel pins, charms, keyrings, cufflinks and brooches are worn intermittently and are not in sustained skin contact. Plated zinc alloy is the right choice there: it casts detail that stainless steel cannot at the same cost, it takes enamel and plating evenly, and it gives the weight the piece needs.

Springs Mean Copper

Any part that has to flex and return, such as a hair pin, needs a spring metal. A cast zinc pin fatigues and stops gripping. Our promotional bobby pins use a zinc alloy decorative head with a copper pin for exactly this reason.

Ask Your Supplier Which and Why

A supplier who answers material questions with the material alone, rather than the reason for it, is usually quoting whatever is cheapest to cast. The right answer depends on where the piece sits on a body and for how long.