Types of Silver Used in Custom Jewelry Making

.925 Sterling Silver Chain for Custom Made Jewelry

The types of silver used in custom jewelry making can differ greatly.  Silver has been used since ancient times for creating fine art, currency and jewelry. There are two basic types of silver: fine and sterling. Fine Silver is at least 99.9% pure silver, which makes this grade of silver fairly resistant to tarnish and discoloration.

 Also, fine silver is a "soft" metal which is why it is so desirable to artisans for jewelry and art purposes, but along with the benefits also come the disadvantages. Fine silver is too soft to be used for anything that serves a function.

Sterling silver is made of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, which is usually copper.  The blending of the metals make the silver stronger and give it the ability to be used to make functional items.  However, there has been a number of companies widening the research into sterling silver and have found a number of promising metals to combine with the silver that include zinc, platinum and germanium. Sterling silver products are generally branded with what is called a hallmark.

This hallmark gives an indication of the purity of the sterling silver, as well as what other metals may be used in it. It may also note when and where the sterling silver was produced, and who the silversmith that made the sterling silver was.