Silver Jewellery: What You Need To Know

Who doesn’t like silver jewellery? Every single woman alive has many silver pieces in her jewellery box, as this most popular of precious metals has long been a firm favourite among jewellery makers from all parts of the world.

Here are some of the variations of silver that can be found in jewellery.

• Fine Silver – This is the closest you will ever get to 100% pure silver and the .999 mark denotes a purity of 99.9%. Fine silver is very soft and is not ideally suited to jewellery, although it has been used on some occasions. The metal has several appealing properties; it can be fused without solder and is resistant to tarnishing. In times gone by, talented jewellers relished working with fine silver, due to the special properties it possesses.
• Sterling Silver – .925 is the symbol for sterling silver, which denotes the silver is 92.5% pure, while the remaining 7.5% is made up of copper and perhaps a splash of nickel. Stunning chunky silver bracelets for women made from sterling silver will not tarnish and are easy to keep clean. The additive minority metals can have an effect on the appearance of the silver, adding a slight red tint, which is very appealing.
• Coin Silver – The term is rarely used these days, but coin silver was once a common alloy, especially in the US. The grading is .900, making it 90%, with the other 10% being copper. It was given the make ‘coin’ silver because silver coins were melted down to produce it. There are some fine examples of antique jewellery made from coin silver, which usually has the mark .900 and is worth a considerable amount of money.
• Silver – This word is often used to describe jewellery and technically speaking, this means the silver is mixed with other elements and if there are no hallmarks, the chances are the alloy would be of low quality. If a piece of jewellery is marked with the numbers 925, it is sterling silver, which is the best type of silver for jewellery.
• Silver Plated – Silver that is plated is a base metal with a very thin covering of silver, which does wear off over time. Silver plated items should be hallmarked as so, while the thickness of the silver plating can vary.
• Nickel Silver – There is not any silver in ‘nickel silver’, rather the silver describes the colour and the metal is a mixture of copper and nickel. This is not commonly found today, and you should be aware that nickel silver contains no silver.

If you are looking to boost the contents of your jewellery box with silver items, we recommend sterling silver every time, as it is strong, durable and does not tarnish. Look for the 3 magical digits, 925 and when you see that, you know that the piece is made from sterling silver. There are leading retailers of sterling silver hand-made jewellery, and you can order their products via their website.