Silver is one of the most popular jewellery types available. But with so many sellers and so much silver available, what are the best ways to make sure you get the best quality for your money?

Silver is a precious metal that has several qualities that make it a valuable and beautiful piece of jewellery. Despite its striking looks, silver itself is a soft metal, and one that is easily bent into and out of shape. In order to overcome this, silver is combined with another metal, usually copper, to make sterling silver. Silver itself is very un-reactive, meaning that it does not corrode. By combining silver with copper and producing sterling silver, this un-reactivity is exchanged for a more solid material which is easy to maintain.

One of the easiest and most obvious ways to gauge quality is through hallmarking. Sterling silver is almost always 92.5% silver, and 7.5% copper. This is shown through hallmarking of the pieces of jewellery. First seen in Britain in the early 1300’s, hallmarking is stamping the silver itself to show who the maker is and to show the fineness of the silver. Sterling silver pieces should have the number “925” stamped on it. This means that 925 pieces per 1000 pieces are pure silver. Fine silver, marked “999” is also used, but is much more malleable than sterling silver. Jewellery is available in fine silver, but is generally thought to be too soft for everyday use.

The British hallmarking system is one that has been built upon over centuries to help give as much information about the piece as possible. Hallmarks dating from 1300 include a crowned leopard’s head, which was used to show that the piece was .925 sterling silver. Later hallmarks on silverware include city marks to show where the piece was made, duty marks to show whether tax was paid on the item, date letters showing when the piece was made, the maker’s mark and in some cases import marks. To hallmark silverware, makers use hammers to stamp in their mark. Modern sterling silver jewellery only tends to have a couple of these hallmarks, mainly the purity and the maker’s mark.

One of the other ways to check quality of silver items, as well as hallmarks, is to inspect the silver carefully. Silver itself does not tarnish, it is the other metals that are combined with silver that tarnish, in most cases, copper. If a piece of sterling silver jewellery is tarnished, it can be easily cleaned through a variety of ways. Silver should always be highly reflective and bright, and sterling silver should always be strong yet malleable.

For a more scientific way of testing silver products, silver-plated metals and low quality silver alloys will turn green when a drop of nitric acid is added. Sterling silver will turn a creamy colour due to the copper in the material. When testing jewellery, a small file can be used to cut into discreet area on the item to test for quality. Sterling silver jewellery lasts much longer than pure silver due to the qualities of other metals that are combined with it, but it is important to ensure that you are certain about the quality of the silver before any purchases are made.

Author Bio: Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For silver jewellery, he recommends Seriously Silver.

Category: Advice
Keywords: silver jewellery, silver jewellery uk, chunky silver jewellery