A to Z of Silver Jewelry

Overview

Before we get on with the specifics of silver jewelry it will be nice to get a grasp of the basics of this beautiful metal and the jewellery made with it. Like gold, silver is also a noble metal. Which is to say that it does not easily react with other metals or is less susceptible to reacting with air or moisture. Pure silver is made of only silver atoms.

Pure silver or 999 silver is too soft to make jewellery out of it which is why other metals are added to it to make it more durable and strong for being able to be used in making jewellery. It possesses a metallic white appearance and has a high luster quality. It is soft in its pure form and can easily get scratched. It is also quite malleable and can be hammered or molded to give it the desired design or shape. When we hear people discussing spot price or bullion price of silver, they are actually referring to the market value of pure silver or 999 silver.

Pure silver or Raw silver

Although silver jewellery can be made with the use of fine or 999 silver, usually some amount of another metal is added to it to increase its strength. It is a little uncommon to come across fine silver jewellery. Copper is usually added to fine silver to produce the most common alloy of silver which is used in making jewellery. It is known as sterling silver and consists of 92.5% pure silver with 7.5% copper.

Hallmarks and Fineness Marks

Different alloys of silver contain different amounts of silver. It is essential to understand the content of silver used in making jewellery with different alloys. The amount of pure silver used in making silver jewelry is indicated by the use of a mark known as the fineness mark. It is put on the jewellery in numbers to represent the percentage of pure silver in the jewellery. For ex- the fineness mark 925 is used to indicate that the jewellery has been made using sterling silver which contains 92.5% of pure silver or 925 parts are made with pure silver out of 1000.

If at all you happen to come across a hallmark that you suspect to be fake, the only way out is to get the purity of the jewellery tested by a jeweler or metal smith. However, after gaining some experience and coming across different types of jewellery, it will become easier to identify real from fake and the need to get the jewellery tested will reduce drastically.

Nickel Silver

To the ones who do not have much experience of dealing with silver jewellery, nickel silver may come across as ordinary silver to the naked eye. It goes by a number of names and often looks very similar to sterling silver. However, this silver is anything but silver. Nickel silver is made of nickel, copper and zinc. It contains absolutely no silver at all. It luster tends to turn greenish with time.

Conclusion

The various aspects of silver jewelry must be familiarized with before indulging in any kind of sale or purchase involving silver fashion, imitation, costume or custom silver jewellery. Silver pendant, necklaces, rings and other silver jewellery, all contain marks that can guide you about the purity of silver involved in making the silver jewellery. It is essential to be cautious and knowledgeable about these before dealing in silver jewellery.