Before an artist can draw the first line, the metal must be perfect. At SevChern, every piece begins not with a sketch, not with a graver, not with niello – but with a melt. In this first installment of our series, we show you how 925 sterling silver is created, which later becomes cutlery, cups, icons, and jewelry.
From the Urals to the North — where does the silver come from?
The journey of silver to Veliky Ustyug begins about 1,500 kilometers further east, in Kyshtym in the Urals. That's where the copper electrolysis plant is located — founded in 1757 by Nikita Demidov and famous at the time for iron under the brand "two sables." In 1908, an international group of investors converted the plant into Russia's first copper electrolysis facility. Today it belongs to the Russian Copper Group.
The interesting thing is: silver is not directly mined in Kyshtym. It is produced as a by-product of copper electrolysis. In large electrolysis baths, pure copper deposits on stainless steel cathodes — and a sludge collects at the bottom, containing silver, gold, platinum, and palladium. This sludge is processed through several stages until pure silver remains: in 30-kilogram ingots or as granules. From there, it makes its way to the Vologda region — to SevChern in Veliky Ustyug.
Granules 999.9 — the raw material
What arrives at SevChern is fine silver with a purity of 999.9 — almost entirely elemental silver. SevChern sources it exclusively from Russian suppliers. This is no coincidence: anyone who maintains a 300-year-old tradition doesn't want supply chains that run through half a dozen countries. The silver comes from a factory whose employees SevChern knows personally.
But 999.9 is too soft for cutlery. A fork made of fine silver would bend at the first Sunday roast. To turn the pure metal into a usable piece, it needs hardness — and that comes from alloying with copper.
1080 °C in the induction furnace — the moment of melting
In the melting room of the factory stands a German unit: an induction furnace of type INTER SS 1000. Into this unit go the silver granules and precisely weighed high-purity copper. Then the mixture is heated to 1,080 degrees Celsius — the silver melts.
Here comes the first point where SevChern deliberately does things differently than the legal norm requires: the 925 assay dictates that at least 925 parts of pure silver must be present per 1000 parts of alloy. SevChern alloys slightly above this value — as the smelter Alexander Devyatykh puts it: "в пользу покупателя", in favor of the buyer. Anyone who acquires a SevChern piece holds a little more silver than the hallmark promises. It's a small difference, measured in thousandths. But it's a commitment.
The molten alloy is carefully mixed in the crucible — uniformly, without air pockets, without lumps. Then something spectacular happens: the liquid silver is poured into a basin of cold water. The heat meets water. It hisses. From the liquid stream, in fractions of a second, small granules are formed — solidified drops of 925 silver, about the size of a pea, cool and hard.
From the melting pot to the ingot — the lab control
The granulate is carefully dried and taken to the in-house laboratory. Only after the chemical analysis — confirming that the 925 standard and the SevChern bonus are precisely met — does it proceed. The tested granules are melted down a second time, this time into a mold: an ingot about 30 centimeters long. This size has proven to be convenient for later cutting.
Each ingot receives its own sequential number. And each ingot is tested a second time — this time at four opposing corners. Why four corners? Because slightly different concentrations can occur during solidification. The four-corner analysis ensures that no point in the ingot falls below the guaranteed silver content. It's an effort not required by the norm — but the factory has adhered to it for decades.
Alexander Devyatykh — a person behind the metal
Behind this first stage stands a single man: Alexander Devyatykh. He is a smelter in the "Procurement" department. He has worked here for more than ten years. When asked how he came to SevChern, he states matter-of-factly: "I came directly after the army. I wrote an application. My mentor accepted me, showed me the workshop — I liked the work. I've been here ever since."
Melting sounds like a simple operation — heat in, metal out. In reality, it is the first filter that every gram of silver must pass through before an artist even sees it. A batch that does not meet the laboratory criteria goes back into the crucible. "This work requires accuracy, attention, professionalism — and love for the chosen profession," says Devyatykh. "Preserving a unique craft is not only interesting but also responsible."
What this means for you
Up to 24 different specialists work at SevChern on a single piece before it leaves the factory. Turners, fitters, engravers, niello masters, gilders, grinders, polishers, assayers, quality control inspectors. But it all starts with one man: Devyatykh at the melting furnace.
So, if you ever hold a SevChern spoon in your hand and look at the hallmark — the "925" mark is not the whole promise. The whole promise is: a little more. And a man who has been going to the same workshop and standing at the furnace every morning for ten years.
In the next secret
The next step is to turn the 30-centimeter ingot into a flat silver plate — and on this plate begins what truly distinguishes SevChern: the artistic design. Who draws the ornaments in the manufactory, how a sketch on paper comes onto a curved silver surface, and why no computer replaces the hand of the artist Olga Petrova — that is Secret No. 2.
This series of articles shows in 8 episodes how a SevChern piece is created. Sources: official documentation of ZAO Severnaya Chern (Veliky Ustyug, Vologda) and factory videos. Texts by premiumgeschenk.de | SilberKosmos.