Jewelry Brass
Jewelry Brass is an alloy of brass that was created for its beauty. It's made from 85% copper and 15% zinc. This is a higher copper content than yellow brass which sometimes has as little as 60% copper. The higher copper content of jewelry brass makes it unsuitable for nuts and bolts, but it does make it prettier! Freshly polished jewelry brass is very close to the color of high carat gold. Care and Feeding of Jewelry Brass Jewelry brass tarnishes quickly with a soft patina that is appealing to many. To keep the surface sparkling, tumble with stainless shot for 10 minutes in water that contains a few squirts of distilled vinegar. Remove from the tumbler, rinse, and then air dry. Inch Sizes I started out making rings wrapped on inch-sized mandrels, and this is still what I personally use most of the time. The first number is the mandrel size in 64ths of an inch, the second number is the wire gauge in the AWG system. I have a more detailed explanation of my ring names posted on the FAQ page. I've been using these ring sizes for a long time, and I have amassed a pretty good collection of sample pictures for various weaves in various sizes. Millimeter Sizes After years of making rings in inch sizes, I finally yielded to customer requests and expanded to millimeter sizes as well. The first number is the mandrel size in millimeters, the second number is the wire gauge in the AWG system. I have a more detailed explanation of my ring names posted on the FAQ page. I hope to have some sample pictures posted for millimeter rings one of these days, but it hasn't made it to the top of the list yet Why two systems? You can definitely stay with just inch sizes or just millimeter sizes and do perfectly fine. But some customers are more comfortable with one or the other, so I offer both. Besides, I'm a complete ring size lunatic, and I find it very comforting to know that 5.75mm is available if I need something bigger than 7/32" yet smaller than 15/64". You never know when that might just be important! I put together a comparison ruler to help you see how the inch and millimeter sizes work together. Choosing the perfect ring size If you aren't certain which size(s) to get, I recommend that you take a look through my ring size recommendations, especially the chart. Rings per ounce I don't have ring counts posted for jewelry brass rings, but you can safely use the counts on the sterling silver pages. Jewelry brass is a tiny bit lighter than sterling silver, so you might get a few more rings - but you'll never get fewer.