Silver jewelry tips

Silver jewlery is not as valuable as gold jewelry, but silver is also a precious metal and like gold it is too soft in its purest form to use in jewelry.

Sterling Silver is the most reflective of the precious metals and can be used as a cheaper alternative to white gold or platinum.

Because of the lower price of sterling silver, it is often used for more contempory and trendy jewelry which tends to be very popular with younger people.

When purchasing silver jewelry, there are two topics that you must have some knowledge of:

	Silver jewelry alloys
	Silver jewelry marks

Silver jewelry alloys

Fine Silver which is 999/1000 pure is alloyed (mixed) with 7.2% Copper to become Sterling Silver and now has the strength to be used for jewelry.

Silver jewlery will always have a visible marking etched either on the inside or backside of the piece.

Silver jewelry marks

Silver Jewlery Purity	Silver Jewelry Markings	Alloy Ratio
92.5%	925, .925 or Sterling Silver	925 parts per thousand, 75 part other metal

Silver jewelry with none of these marks is either silver plated or German Silver.

	Silver plating is the depositing of a very thin layer of silver onto another metal in a process known as electrolysis.
	German Silver, also known as Nickel Silver, is a silver colored alloy made up of copper, zinc and nickel.