Sterling silver comprises of 92.5% of silver and 7.5% of metal alloys. Whenever it comes to silver jewelry, it is usually sterling silver that is used to make beautiful jewelry, artifacts, and other decorative items. Pure silver is soft and malleable, so a bit of hardness is introduced with the help of metal alloys. The metal alloy used in silver is usually copper, zinc or nickel. Most of the online stores, retailers and wholesale markets sell a variety of silver jewelry designs. A collection of exquisite designs that is ideal for daily wear makes silver jewelry highly popular.
Attractive online discounts lure many consumers and they end up getting duped. Many online stores sell fake silver jewelry and items that do not have the hallmark on it. Since silver jewelry is a worthwhile investment and a valuable asset, it is always better to purchase it from authentic places.
Some of the effective ways to identify genuine 925 sterling silver jewelry are as follows-
Hallmark Test
Always purchase silver jewelry items that have the hallmark on them. This is one of the preliminary rounds of check that you can do on the jewelry item. Authentic silver jewelry will have marks like “925 sterling” or “sterling” or “925” mark on it. If the mark is not clear or somehow clearly not visible, try avoiding purchase from those places.
Smell Test
Authentic sterling silver jewelry does not smell at all. If your rub the jewelry and it smells metallic, brassy or a “dirty metallic” smell, then it is not sterling silver jewelry. Clean sterling silver does not have any smell. This test works well for big jewelry pieces. Be it a 925 sterling silver jewelry wholesale market or retail market, it is important for you to do this smell test to check if the jewelry is real.
Magnet Test
Get a strong magnet and see if the jewelry piece attracts the magnet. Silver will never attract a magnet, so if your piece is drawn towards the magnet, it is not an authentic silver jewelry. Chances are there that the silver jewelry piece has a different composition percentage.
The “Scientific” Test
You need to collect some protective goggles and gloves for this test. You also need to get some amount of nitric acid to understand whether the 925-sterling silver is real. Before you buy sterling silver jewelry from your jeweler, ask them if you can perform a nitric acid test on it. Add a drop of nitric acid on the silver part of the jewelry. If the part turns green, then the jewelry is not made of sterling silver. Nitric acid has no effect on real 925 sterling silver. It is a chemical with high copper content and discolors non-silver items.
The Easy Test
One such easy test that can help you differentiate real sterling silver jewelry from fake ones is by rubbing the jewelry with a soft light-colored cloth. If you find a black mark on the cloth, the jewelry piece is genuine sterling silver. Real silver when comes in contact with air, get oxidized and creates tarnish which appears on the cloth.
Stay Away from ALPACA
If you come across silver jewelry with ALPACA or ALPACA Mexico stamp on it, and sellers tell you it’s sterling silver jewelry, never go for it. This can also be described as German Silver. These are different mixtures of alloys that are silver in color and not sterling silver.
Do a Close Examination
Examine the silver jewelry pieces very closely. Pay attention to the coloring of the piece. A real sterling silver piece is less cool in tone and not shiny as items that are plated with silver. If you see areas on the jewelry where the color appears to be flaked, then the item is not at all sterling silver.
Fake Forms of Silver
Many consumers come across silver jewelry items that are called by sellers as “Tibetan Silver”. This is not sterling silver and is confused as Thailand silver by many. Thailand silver is usually sterling silver, but this is not the case with Tibetan silver. Tibetan silver is an alloy that comprises of 30% silver or less. The rest of the material is copper, zinc or copper-nickel alloy.
Many buyers also come across silver jewelry that have “925 FAS” mark on it. Items with this mark on jewelry pieces are usually sold as sterling silver jewelry. Buyers should avoid doing this. Some sellers even term it as “Fused Alloy Silver” and sell these easily. Avoid purchasing any jewelry item that has this particular mark on it.
These are some of the ways through which you can figure out the authentic sterling silver jewelry items from any store. It is always better to go for the reliable retail store, online store or 925 sterling silver jewelry wholesale market where you can actually trust and invest in purchasing silver jewelry items.
P&K Jewelry 