TierraCast is located in Northern California and has over 25 years of experience in jewelry manufacturing. In producing their beautiful pewter beads and findings, TierraCast uses only fine-grade pewter that exceeds the FDA standards for pewter in contact with food.
TierraCast takes the issues concerning lead very seriously and buys only pewter that is routinely tested to comply with stringent FDA limits. In this way they protect us and our environment from exposure to lead. They continue to research this issue and share what they learn with us as more information becomes available. The USDA standard is less than .05% (or 500 parts per million) lead content in pewter in contact with food. On their website you’ll find information on the lead content of the pewter shipments they receive. One recent shipment was at a level of .015% lead content which is much lower than the USDA standard.
Although all pewter contains trace amounts of lead, the term “lead free pewter” is sometimes used to describe pewter that meets the stringent FDA standard.
Their designs are wonderfully unique, gathering inspiration from ancient cultures as well as contemporary images. Traditional jewelry techniques are used in combination with innovations such as photo etching to create highly detailed master designs. Museum replication techniques are employed to carefully create tooling that carries the quality of their master designs into the quality of their production pieces. Meticulous attention to detail throughout these processes provides the consistent high quality of TierraCast beads and findings. The company performs over 15 quality check points from design to shipping its pewter products.
TierraCast beads and findings come in four finishes:
* Gold Plate uses 18k color and a medium luster on all of its cast parts. All gold plated thicknesses are above 10 millionths of an inch and thus qualify under the Federal Trade Commission terms of “Gold Electroplate.” The plate thickness is sufficient to withstand reasonable wear and tear, but is not so thick as to resist aggressive cleaning or machine polishing. Any cleaning should be done with mild detergents and a soft cloth.
* Silver Plate is done using .999 Fine Silver as the final plated surface and has a thickness of at least of at least 20 millionths of an inch. Unlike gold, this plated metal surface is susceptible to tarnishing, even though they are sealed with a final anti-tarnish layer during manufacturing.
* Copper Plate is applied in thickness sufficient to allow for chemical antiquing and machine relief to give the plated parts a natural antique look.
* Rhodium Plate is often used as a “silver colored” alternative to real silver plate. While more gray in color than silver, Rhodium is highly scratch resistant and does not tarnish.
TierraCast makes designing with their beads very easy as TierraCast beads will be the focal point of most designs.
I am using TierraCast beads and findings more and more as I learn about the quality and beauty of these beads. I prefer to know the amount of lead in a product rather than just wondering and worrying about my health and that of my customers. Also, I have learned recently that sterling silver also has trace amounts of pewter. Since there is no way to find the exact percentage of lead content, I feel much safer using TierraCast products with a known lead percentage.
With the scary news from China about high-lead content toys and other items, I feel much more at ease knowing that my customers and myself are protected from high-lead content jewelry when I use TierraCast beads and findings.
