What is 925 Sterling Silver?
Silver is such a malleable, ductile, white, and shiny precious metal. It is so soft and easy to work with, that silversmiths –with their special skills and patience–, can shape silver into almost anything they want. They just keep stroking the metal with their hammers and tools until the desired handcrafted silver object is obtained. Silver can sometimes be too soft, deform with use or get scratched easily. Pure silver is 99.9 silver. As gold, pure silver does not tarnish or lose its color.
Silver occurs naturally in alloy with gold, copper, lead, nickel, zinc, arsenic, antimony and other metals. If mixed with copper to 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper, the resulting silver is stronger and more resistant. This is known as Sterling Silver. Manufactures engrave a seal in each sterling silver piece jewellery. It says 925 on it, meaning that for every 100 grams there should be 92.5 grams of silver and 7.5 grams of copper or nickel or another metal.
Sterling silver is mostly used to produce solid silverware, plateware, tea sets and candle sticks, etc. but also silver jewellery. The special alloy maximizes its shine and brilliance, makes the piece stronger and durable and does not deform with use.
Sterling silver jewellery is priced affordably. Almost anyone can buy sterling silver rings, sterling silver bracelets or necklaces. On the other hand, sterling silver is also used to provide a magnificent support in gemstone jewellery. The beauty of precious gems and diamonds is enhanced when mounted in 925 silver rings, necklaces, earrings or bracelets. Those pieces of gemstone jewellery would obviously be more costly due to the value of the gems, but not as much as they would be if the precious stones were mounted in gold or platinum.
Tarnishing and green traces in your skin
A negative property of silver mixed with copper or nickel is the tendency of those added metals to oxidise in contact with the sulphides in the air. This causes the sterling silver gemstone jewellery to tarnish and acquire a yellowish or even dark color. Lots of precautions can be taken, like polishing it, washing it, wrapping it with a special silver cloth and keeping it in a drawer or a closed box. The good news is that with proper care, and following simple tips, your gemstone jewellery can be returned to its original shine and beauty.
Even 925 designer silver jewellery can sometimes leave a green mark in your skin and perhaps not in someone else´s. This is due to the different chemicals in people´s skins, the composition of their sweat, etc.
A gift of handmade silver jewellery is greatly appreciated! You can find all kinds of reasonably priced exquisite sterling silver rings with or without precious stones.
Purchasing mens silver rings is more common these days. As the demand increases, so does the variety and beauty of the superb mens gemstone jewellery you can find in the market.
