Sterling Silver

Since the silver that is used in jewelry is already an alloy, it is difficult to establish its silver content solely through visual means. To protect customers, countries have established a system and a set of standards by which all silver pieces must measure up to. In Britain , laws which maintain that all silver articles should contain at least 925 parts silver in every thousand parts were enacted roughly 600 years ago. Silver products that adhere to these standards are called Sterling silver.

Sterling Silver, which is composed of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper or zinc, is often used for jewelry and ornamentation. The name was derived from the word “ Ea sterling ”, an area located in Germany . This was where the original silversmiths lived.

Incidentally, the amount of copper or zinc added to silver does not have a significant effect on the value of silver jewelry. The price is determined by the intricacy of the design and the labor that was put into making the item.