How To Identify Real 925 Sterling Silver Jewelry
Sterling Silver means 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% some other material. Its a precious metal and maintains its value for a lifetime just like gold. It will be marked as .925 on the silver item. .925 means 925 parts of metal out of 1000 pure silver.
Every piece that is sold as sterling silver item must have a makers mark or .925 even if the items are handmade they should have this mark of purity. One must be careful while buying such pieces that have poor or forged marks.
Generally it’s market value fluctuates daily but the economy of a country may reflect remarkable changes in its value. But it might not affect the rates of pieces handcrafted or specially designed by designers. Similarly for vintage or collectible sterling silver items too, rates might not get affected much. The prices do not get affected for the reason that the person is paying for the beauty of the piece and not for the weight. The art of the piece would not change its prices due to fluctuating rates of silver. Sterling and .925 both can be interchanged and mean the same but if it is listed as “silver ring” this could mean that ring is silver tone. So, one must be careful with the name especially while purchasing online. Item should specifically mention Sterling Silver. Online if the items are sold at low price that the profit cannot be made or if they are sold with no courier or shipping charges from overseas then for sure they are not sterling silver. Before purchasing from overseas one must know for how long the company is in business, should ask for the makers mark or .925 marks on the item. There are groups floating bogus products in the market and doing fraud claiming sterling silver for unreal, they are ruining of economy of the country.
.925 is the standard and purest form of silver and anything more than this can cause difficulty to the craftsman in making silver items. Sterling also comes in .999 but are very rare and expensive in the market as it is very difficult to create pieces, the reason being silver is a soft metal and can break easily creating trouble for the craftsman. To a certain extent one can know whether it’s sterling or not, using magnet. If a so called “sterling silver” piece doesn’t move near the magnet than there is a chance of piece being pure but if the piece jumps and clings to the magnet then this piece could be a mix of junk metals and is for sure not sterling. Also that sterling should tarnish, bend slightly-for flexibility, and somewhat lightweight. It will not respond to a magnet and will be clearly marked .925. Be sure to test the magnet on the jewelry itself and not the clasp, as some clasps have springs that may be attracted to a magnet.