Silver has been valued for centuries by people throughout the world. When used in the production of jewelry it usually combined with metal alloys like copper to increase its durability. The most popular is called sterling silver, which is a combination of 92.5 % silver and 7.5% copper. This combination adds incredible durability to the metal without diminishing the spectacular shine of 100% silver.
Quality
Pieces of sterling silver jewelry are marked with an industry standard quality mark. This ensures the buyer that the piece is at least 92.5% silver. Acceptable marks are:
- Sterling
- Sterling Silver
- Ster
- .925
Care
Common household chemicals like bleach, chlorine and ammonia are corrosive and can damage the finish of silver jewelry. It’s important to remove any silver jewelry when using these chemicals. It’s important to also note that silver should periodically be polished to prevent dullness, which occurs in due to a reaction with sulfur and hydrogen sulfide, both of which are found naturally in our atmosphere.