Silver is a natural resource
which is a material that is made through nature and historically has been and is currently used for economic gain. Many countries including the United States have had or currently have their banks backed up by silver and gold. With that being said, sterling silver alone is metal that obtains value in the market place.
Sterling silver has been used to create jewelry for many years now.
If you have been in the market for jewelry, you might have come across sterling silver jewelry. Sterling silver is composed of 92.5 silver and 7.5 alloy metal. The main reasons manufacturers and jewelers do not make pure silver jewelry is because pure silver is soft. The jewelry design can easily bend, break, and scratch very fast. The 7.5 alloy metal is very important to make the sterling silver jewelry durable and stable. 925 is usually stamped on jewelry pieces to indicate that its sterling silver. Sometimes the “.925” stamp will be followed with the word “sterling silver” and/or “made in” with the countries name. Many countries have good reputation and are well known for their sterling silver pieces such as Italy and Mexico.
In order for jewelry to be sterling silver it must have 92.5 pure silver. Unfortunately, today many companies out there claim that their jewelry is sterling silver and many times their product does contain the stamp “.925”, but the sad reality is that they are cheaters, and their products are nothing but bootlegs. Just as you can find bootleg watches and handbags, people also counterfeit sterling silver. Be careful when you shop from untrusted stores claiming their jewelry is sterling silver 925. At Luke Zion Jewelry all their jewelry is stamped 925 and is made up of 92.5 pure silver. Check out the website and invest in some sterling silver chains.
So, the question is how do I know if I am getting a real sterling silver piece. Here are listed some ways below.
- Research the company look at reviews ( You can trust Luke Zion Jewelry)
- Search for a sterling silver quality mark (again you can’t always trust it since now and days it’s easy to stamp any marking.
- The magnetic test
- Electronic Testers
- Density (weight divided by volume, silver’s density should be around 10.49)
- Take it to a pawnshop (Please keep in mind that they will undervalue any gold and silver piece since their job is to make money when reselling)
- Acid test
- Is it plated? (if you suspect a plated piece an acid test or density test, is the best option)
