Purity of Silver
Fine Silver in its natural state, 999/1000 pure, is too soft an element for practical jewelry. Pure Silver, a precious and malleable metal, is usually alloyed with copper to enhance its durability. Typically, sterling silver consists of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper. When purchasing jewelry, always look for the .925 stamp.
Here are the main silver alloys:
Sterling Silver: A mixture of 92.5 % pure silver (925 parts) and 7.5 % metal alloy.
Silver Plating: Also known as silver plated or silver coated. A base metal, usually nickel silver or brass, is coated with a layer of pure silver by a process called electroplating.
Vermeil: Sterling silver electroplated with at least 100 millionths of an inch of karat gold.
German Silver or Alpaca: A silver-white alloy consisting of copper, zinc and nickel.
Coin Silver: 90% (900 parts) pure silver and 10% (100 parts) metal alloy. A process of melting down coins done in the 19th century, and mostly discarded today.
At HPSilver.com we guarantee that all of the jewelry sold on our site is .925 sterling silver or above. We always offer the highest quality.
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