A wholesale buyer sends over 30 fabricated sterling bracelets made from 2 mm round wire. The first sample comes back with hairline cracks radiating from every solder seam. The soldering bench blames the wire supplier; the wire supplier says the bench never annealed before joining. Both are half right. On fabricated silver, the crack is almost never the flame size. It is the order in which annealing and soldering were done.
The order that actually matters
Fabricated sterling starts hard. Drawing wire through a drawplate, rolling strip, and bending tube around a mandrel all work-harden the metal. If you solder on that hardened silver, the joint sits in a stressed zone and cracks the first time the piece is bent for fitting. The bench sequence we teach is: anneal after every forming step, then solder from the highest melting temperature down.
Our three-stage table is silver solder hard, medium, and easy flow: hard solder at roughly 745 C (1375 F), medium at 700 C (1290 F), easy at 680 C (1255 F). You start with hard solder on the structural joints, anneal the whole piece to restore ductility, move to medium on the secondary joints, anneal again, and finish with easy solder on the decorative details. Each later joint flows at a lower temperature so it does not re-melt the ones you already made.
When annealing itself goes wrong
Two mistakes kill more fabricated orders than flame control. The first is annealing after the easy-solder stage. Easy solder flows at 680 C; if you heat the whole piece to 700 C to soften it up after the last seam, you re-flow every joint you just made. The second is over-annealing sterling: heating past dull cherry red, about 750 C, grows the grain, softens the piece too much, and can fire-scale the surface if the oxygen is not flushed. We heat to a dull cherry glow, quench in pickling acid, and stop.
Flux control ties in directly. Silver soldering flux and heat control determines whether the solder capillary draws into the seam or beads up on the surface; annealing before fluxing gives the surface a clean oxide-free start.
Why the sequence beats flame size
A bench tech with a good sequence can solder a 2 mm tube seam with a 3 L/min torch and no cracked joints. A bench tech skipping the sequence uses a 6 L/min torch, overheats to chase the joint, and still gets cracks because the metal underneath is stressed. The stress is what moves after soldering, which is why common solder joint risks show up weeks later as the piece settles on the retail shelf.
For silver fabrication, forming, and soldering orders, we stamp the annealing step on the work order ticket: anneal after draw, anneal after hard solder, anneal after medium solder, no anneal after easy. The bench tech signs off each step. That is how we keep the crack rate under 1 percent on tube work instead of the 8 to 10 percent we saw before the ticket existed.
How we track annealing on the work order
Every fabricated tube wire bracelet leaves the wire drawer with a hardness stamp. The forming bench draws, rolls, and bends it, then anneals the whole piece once before any solder touches it. We do not anneal a single seam with a torch; we heat the entire piece to dull cherry and quench it, because local annealing leaves a hard zone next to a soft zone, and that boundary is where cracks start. After hard solder, the piece goes back in the kiln at 650 C for five minutes, not in the torch, so the heat is even. After medium solder, same cycle. After easy solder, we let the piece cool naturally and skip the kiln entirely. The bench tech initials each step on the ticket, and the QC lead photographs the seam before polishing. That paper trail is what lets us push the crack rate under 1 percent on tube work, instead of reworking bracelets that split at the shoulder two weeks after delivery.
FAQ: Silver annealing before soldering
When should I anneal silver in a soldering project?
After every forming step (drawing, rolling, bending) and between each solder stage: after hard solder, after medium solder. Never anneal after the easy-solder stage. Quench in pickle after each anneal to remove fire scale.
How many solder stages can one piece take?
Three is the practical maximum: hard, medium, easy. Every extra heat cycle adds oxidation and grain growth. If the design needs four joints, group them so two flow at the same temperature in one heat.
Can I anneal after easy solder?
No. Easy solder flows at 680 C and annealing sterling requires 650 to 700 C. You will re-melt the joints. If the piece needs softening after easy solder, do it mechanically with a rawhide mallet on a mandrel.
What color tells me sterling is properly annealed?
Dull cherry red, roughly 650 to 700 C in low light. Bright orange is overheated; bright red risks fire scale and grain growth. We quench the moment the color reaches dull cherry, per sterling silver annealing practice.
Send over your fabricated design and wire gauge. Our bench runs hard, medium, and easy solder in sequence with an anneal ticket on every work order, and we photograph the seam after each stage. Small-batch OEM custom manufacturing starts at 30 pieces per design; send the tube layout and we will quote the seam sequence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What ring sizes can you supply in bulk?
US sizes 5–12 including half sizes. Send a size breakdown with your order and we cast to that curve; comfort-fit inner bands reduce resize requests.
Can I order a mixed size run instead of one size?
Yes. Mixed runs are standard for wholesale: specify quantity per size and we pack and label by size at no extra labor cost.
What is the MOQ for custom ring designs?
50 pieces per design for existing molds; 100–300 pieces when a new mold or CAD model is required.
How should I price rings for retail margin?
Most partners use a 3–4x markup on FOB cost for sterling and 2.5–3x for moissanite solos, which keeps landed cost under 30% of retail.
