Silver Jewellery

Last week we gave you the run down on gold jewellery so now let’s focus on the properties of silver jewellery.

Silver jewellery is often made from sterling silver which is an alloy made up of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. Sterling silver jewellery is often covered in a thin coating to plate the item of jewellery, whether it’s a silver necklace or silver earrings, in a fine silver coating that gives the item a shiny finish and this process is known as ‘flashing’. Silver is a element of almost all coloured carat gold alloys and helps to give the alloys a more pale colour and make them harder.

An example of a silver alloy is 9 carat white gold which contains 62.5% silver and 37.5% gold, while 22 carat gold contains up to 91.7% gold and only 8.4% silver. Silver is a much cheaper alternative to gold but is still valuable and popular. Silver is a very fashionable choice for items of jewellery.

Have a look at this complete list of facts about silver.