Why Is Nickel Often Used For Casting?

Those first weeks and months of a baby’s life are filled with softness, tiny details, and moments you wish you could hold onto forever. Casting your baby’s hands or feet is a beautiful way to preserve those contours — every crease, every wrinkle, every delicate curve — in a form that lasts a lifetime.

While many families choose bronze, silver, gold, or glass, one of our most popular finishes is nickel. Its soft, silvery tone feels modern and elegant, and its durability makes it a wonderful choice for a keepsake you want to treasure for decades.

🌿 Why Nickel Is Such a Popular Choice

Nickel is often chosen for the same reason bronze, silver, and gold are used in sculpture: it is incredibly long‑lasting.

What many people don’t realise is that nickel is one of the most resilient finishes available. It offers a beautiful, bright sheen while also being exceptionally resistant to wear, tarnish, and corrosion — qualities that make it ideal for preserving something as precious as your baby’s earliest details.

🌿 What Is Nickel Silver?

Most nickel baby cast finishes are created using an alloy known as nickel silver. Despite the name, it contains no actual silver. Instead, it is a blend of:

• nickel

• copper

• zinc

This combination creates a silvery, stainless‑steel‑like appearance, but with far greater durability. It is strong, stable, and beautifully resistant to everyday environmental changes.

Nickel silver is often used to plate bronze casts, giving them a bright, polished finish while maintaining the strength and detail of the bronze beneath.

🌿 Strength, Durability, and Timeless Beauty

The zinc content in nickel silver contributes to its strength — in a way similar to the galvanisation process that protects stainless steel. But unlike stainless steel, nickel silver has a warmer, more refined tone and is even more resilient.

This makes it a wonderful choice for:

• baby hand and foot sculptures

• framed keepsakes

• ornaments and display pieces

• memorial or heirloom castings

Nickel is also less prone to tarnish than many metals, meaning your cast will maintain its beauty with minimal care.

🌿 How Nickel Compares to Silver

Nickel is actually more hard‑wearing than pure silver, which is why most silver sculptures are made from sterling silver rather than solid silver. Sterling silver is stronger, but still more delicate than nickel.

For families who love the look of silver but want something more durable, nickel offers the perfect balance of beauty and resilience.

🌿 A Finish Designed to Last a Lifetime

Choosing a nickel finish means choosing a keepsake that will endure — a piece that remains as bright and detailed as the day it was created. Whether displayed in your home or kept somewhere private and personal, a nickel‑plated cast becomes a timeless reminder of your baby’s earliest days.

If you’d like guidance choosing the right finish for your cast, I’m always here to help you find the option that feels most meaningful for your family.