SilverStones

How do you know what you are buying is real silver jewelry? Once upon a time you could look for the 925 stamp, which is no longer true. There is a lot of silver jewelry on jewelry Websites that claim it is 925 sterling silver, it’s not. There is some unscrupulous tactics of how silver jewelry is made due to the increase in the price of silver. I discovered this recently when I saw a bracelet very similar to the on I sell. I contacted the supplier to inquire about the bracelet. The supplier admitted it was not 92.5% silver but 65% silver and 35% copper. I ordered the bracelet to inspect it and it did have the 925 stamp on it. Could you tell it wasn’t sterling silver? No, as a matter of fact I took this bracelet to a jewelry store to see what they would give me for it. They looked for the stamp, threw it on the scales and gave me a price. They couldn’t tell the difference either. This counterfeit silver jewelry coming from China. They will copy anything and sell it for a fraction of the cost. That is what this bracelet was, a copy.

How can you tell if it’s real silver jewelry? You could use a testing block with a chemical solution or buy from a reputable supplier. The big clue is the price. If it’s cheap then it is this lower grade silver jewelry or it is plated. We only carry sterling silver jewelry that is 92.5% silver. We do not carry plated silver jewelry. I cannot say all silver jewelry that comes from China is this 65/35 mixture. What I am telling you is it is out there. Yes, there is some silver jewelry we carry that comes from China but we do not buy it directly from that country. We buy from reputable suppliers in the US.

This sterling silver curb chain shown above comes from Germany. We offer sterling silver chains from Germany, Italy and the US. This curb chain is one of my favorites and it is available in 18″, 20″ and 24″ lengths.

There are different types of silver jewelry available on the market today. Shown left is our leopard sterling silver pendant that has a hidden bail. The type of silver jewelry we sell at SilverStones is .925 sterling silver, that is 92.5% silver. We also sell Argentium silver that is at least 93% silver and fine silver jewelry, that is 99% silver.

Other types of silver jewelry you will find are silver-filled. This type of silver comes in findings, chains and bars that are used to make thin cuff bracelets. Silver-filled, like gold-filled, consists of sterling silver or fine silver that is bonded onto a red brass alloy. Silver-filled is made in two qualities, 1/20 and 1/10 silver which means it is 5% silver in weight or 10% silver in weight. The 1/10 silver-filled has a thicker layer of silver. Silver-filled is more valuable than silver-plated. Silver-filled actually has a layer of silver.

Silver-plated jewelry has a microscopic film of silver over brass. You will find a lot of silver-plated jewelry on the market. Silver-plated jewelry is abbreviated SP. You may see SP in the description of jewelry sold on the Internet. This is the type of silver used in fashion jewelry.

There is a new product on the market called Glinter.  Shown left is an example of Glinter.  Glinter is a white metal alloy composed of copper, zinc and a little bit of silver. The wholesale cost is $1.00 per bead vs. $4.00 per bead if it was sterling silver. We do not use this type of silver in the jewelry we sell.  You will find this type of silver and silver-plated components used in fashion jewelry available in stores, on web sites and at arts and crafts events. If you are buying handcrafted jewelry from a vendor at an arts and crafts event, look them straight in the eye and ask them if it is sterling silver they used to make the item. If they look away when they reply it means they are not telling you the truth.

I personally care if an item is sterling silver or not. If I were to buy some jewelry, I would want to know what type of silver that was used in making the jewelry because I don’t want to be ripped off.  Now my question to you is:  do you care if it is real sterling silver?

Argentium silver (AS) is made with a touch of geranium, which severely inhibits tarnishing.  Argentium is silver and is marked .930, which is never less than 93% silver, higher graded Argentium silver is never less than 97% silver.

There is not a lot of Argentium silver on the market today. This type of silver could be used by silversmiths to create handcrafted jewelry. We sometimes use this type of silver in our handcrafted necklaces. We carry a few on these Argentium silver chains on our site. I have this figure-8 chain shown here. I love it. It reminds me of white gold but without the price. This chain is great for several of our pendants available at SilverStones.

Argentium silver cannot be melted down with sterling silver. If you recycle your silver, keep this type of silver separated from your sterling silver, which is marked .925.

Check out these new .925 sterling silver chains we just added to our site.  Shown on this page is the beveled curb chain from Germany. This 20″ sterling silver chain is a great chain for a man and is the largest chain we carry measuring 4.1mm in width.  We also have another silver curb chain from Germany that measures 2.9mm in width that is available in 18″, 20″ and 24″. We added two chains from Italy. One is a box chain available in 18″ and 20″; the other one is a beveled curb chain available in 20″ and 24″.  Not to mention many other sterling silver chains available in several different lengths that are made in the USA!

When ordering a pendant to go with a chain, be sure the opening of the pendant is at least 1mm larger than the width of your chain. Use the contact us form on our Web site if you have any question regarding these chains and pendants available.