Does your wife own massive quantities of 925 sterling silver jewellery? Or maybe you saw a fine designer silver jewellery in the room of your sister? Did you ever wonder what that 925 number meant or even perhaps what sterling means? Not a lot of people ask their jeweler about this. Or is it?. The word sterling comes from an old English word that means “little star” since money made out of silver in the olden days have stars stamped on them. The number 925 means that there is about 92. 5% of pure silver in any sterling silver item. 5% of pure silver. 5% is some kind of alloy and copper is the industry standard although other metals can be used like zinc or platinum. 5%? That would usually be another alloy and copper is the most commonly used metal for mixing.
But many companies add other elements aside from copper in order to change the properties of silver. But before you start calling and complain to your jeweler about the silver necklaces for women that you recently bought for your wife, read on and be properly informed. Yes it is true that sterling silver is not really made of pure silver and there is a good explanation for that. One of which is that because silver to shape into a desired design since pure silver, sometimes called fine silver, is usable in liquid form. So if this element is combined with another alloy, the malleability of the silver is improved.
Another reason for mixing is that it makes the silver more durable especially since shaping the metal would require some good amount of hammering and other stressful techniques. The other reason for the mixing is to make the silver more durable. Melting, sudden cooling and even hammering can make any metal quiver. As the purity of silver decreases, its reaction to tarnishing would increase. However there is a drawback to this mixing and that is in the form of oxygen. Copper is very susceptible to reacting with oxygen thus making your silver ring look black or murky. But as the purity of silver decreases, the more readily it is to tarnish and that is because of the added alloy and the usual culprit is copper since it is very reactive to oxygen. But you don’t have to be discouraged because maintaining the luster of the silver is very easy and regular polishing can do winder in avoiding tarnishing.
Now that you have an idea on what sterling silver is, you will know what it means when the jeweler will tell you about the necklace you bought for your wife. If you are planning on buying a new silver necklace for the wife, then you know what it means when the sales clerk will tell that the necklace is sterling.
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