If you purchase a lot of jewelry, you’ve come across these terms and might have wondered how they matter.

If you purchase a lot of jewelry, you’ve come across these terms and might have wondered how they matter. The distinction is significant, so It’s important to be able to know the difference to ensure you’re getting the best value and quality.

Everything you need to know about sterling silver

Sterling silver jewelry differs from silver plated in what it is made of. Sterling silver is an alloy, to be considered “Sterling Silver”, the object must contain at least 92.5% pure silver, the 7.5% that remains is made up of other metals. These other metals tend to be copper or zinc and adds durability and greater luster to the silver. Due to the pure silver constitution, sterling silver is often known as 925 silver.

How to tell silver plated and sterling silver apart

If you’re looking to tell silver plated vs sterling silver apart, there are a few simple ways. The easiest being to check for an authenticity stamp. Real sterling silver usually has a ‘925’ or ‘sterling’ stamp, often on the inside of rings or on the fastening of necklaces. Other than this, pay close attention to the weight as you should be able to feel a difference between silver plated vs sterling silver, with the former being heavier. Finally, if you’ve been wearing a piece for a while and find it is irritating you, it is most likely plated rather than sterling silver.

What is Silver Plated?

Silver plated refers to jewelry created by covering a base metal, such as copper or brass, in a very thin layer of sterling silver. The coating can be anywhere from 1 micron to 10 microns thick. This base metal can be more affordable than sterling silver or pure silver, which in turn can lead to a more affordable piece of silver jewelry.

This method of coating a base material with a valuable metal is also seen in gold plated and gold vermeil. Both of which use different plating techniques to coat base metals with gold.

Is silver plated real silver?

As silver plated jewelry consists of two parts, it does contain real silver, despite not being 100% so. In this way plated silver is real, but only its coating and not its core.

How long does silver plated jewellery last?

As silver plated jewelry only has a thin layer of silver bonded to its surface, it can be scratched or tarnished easily. However, with proper care and jewelry cleaning, you could see silver plated pieces last for a long time. A key difference between silver plated vs sterling silver is that tarnishes and discoloration can be easily cleaned out of sterling silver, but not so easily with silver plated.

What Causes Tarnishes & Discoloration?

If any of your silver bracelets, rings, necklaces, etc. start to take on a new color, it’s most likely tarnish, but fear not.

All sterling silver will tarnish. Tarnish appears like a dim, grayish to black coating over the metal. Only the top layers of the silver item have reacted, so it’s easy to remove it from the surface.

If you gently rub the tarnish with a fabric, such as a silver polishing cloth, it should leave faint black marks on it. This is normal for sterling.

Using a small amount of silver jewelry cleaner on a cloth, you can gently rub the tarnished silver and the tarnish should come off.

Rub back-and-forth, rather than circles, to avoid accentuating scratches. Rinse the silver item under warm water after polishing, to remove the remaining cleaner.

Using a silver cleaning dip will also remove tarnish from sterling silver. You can buy it online, but use caution; some cleaners can be too strong for jewelry and can damage the silver’s surface.