18% Nickel Silver – Introduction
18% nickel silver typically refers to zinc nickel silver with a nickel content of approximately 18%. It is commonly known in the industry as German silver or nickel silver. The most common grade used in eyewear materials is Bzn18-26 / BZn18-18.
Key Characteristics
Silver-White Appearance: Due to its high nickel content, it exhibits a silver-like metallic luster and offers excellent decorative appeal after polishing.
Good Corrosion Resistance: It resists corrosion from the atmosphere, sweat, and general humid environments, with better color stability than ordinary brass.
Excellent Cold Formability: Suitable for stamping, bending, deep drawing, and spinning processes. It is commonly used for eyewear hinges, nose pad cores, and pins.
Cold Work Hardening: It has good ductility in the annealed condition, and its strength and hardness increase significantly after cold rolling or cold drawing.
Non-magnetic: It exhibits no magnetism under normal conditions.
Easy to Plate: The uniform silver-white base color provides good coating adhesion and an excellent surface finish after electroplating.