Product Descriptions
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What Is The Difference In Value Between 925 Sterling Silver and Silver Plated
Sterling silver always retains it's intrinsic silver value, and is worth more as it has a much higher value, and it will last forever if you take care of it. Silverplated has no intrinsic silver value, is much cheaper, and will last approximately 20 years or less depending on the care.

How To Tell If Silver Is Sterling Silver or Silver Plated
Sterling silver will always carry a 925 silver stamp, .925 or show the fraction 925/1000.
If it does not have this mark it is not sterling silver. It can also be tested with an acid to determine its content. This should only be done by a professional.

What Is 925 Sterling Silver
925 Sterling Silver is the best and finest sterling silver, it's an alloy of silver containing 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. Fine silver (99.9% pure) is generally too soft for producing large functional objects. And in Sterling Silver, the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give strength whilst preserving the malleability of the silver and a high precious metal content - ideal for making silver jewellery.

Other metals can replace the copper, usually with the intent to improve various properties of the basic sterling alloy such as reducing casting porosity, eliminating firescale (a red or purple stain), and increasing resistance to tarnish. These replacement metals include germanium, zinc, and platinum, as well as a variety of other additives including silicon and boron.
A number of alloys claiming firescale and/or tarnish resistance have appeared in recent years sparking heavy competition between the various manufacturers and their different formulations.
No one alloy has emerged as an industry leader or standard and ongoing alloy development is a very active area.

What Is Hallmarking
In order to comply with the current hallmarking legislation.
Precious metals used in jewellery and giftware manufacture are always used as an alloy. The precious metal must be mixed with other elements to give it the necessary properties such as flexibility to produce a desirable and durable article.
Even the most experienced jeweller or chemist cannot tell how much precious metal there is in an alloy, just by looking at it, nor whether a thick plating of gold is covering a base metal interior. Due to the high price of precious metals, this offers a huge opportunity for fraud and there has therefore always been a need to protect the public, and honest suppliers, from those who are tempted to cheat them.
Therefore all items being sold as gold, silver or platinum in the UK must be hallmarked to confirm that they meet the legal standard. This cannot be done by the manufacturer or importer; goods must be submitted to one of the four UK Assay Offices, or an Assay Office belonging to the International Convention.
The only items which are exempt are those which are under the legal weight threshold, 1 gram for gold, 0.5 grams for platinum and 7.58 grams for silver.

Why Are Charms And Some Items Not Hall Marked
In order to comply with the current hallmarking legislation silver jewellery is hall marked if they meet the necessary weight of over 7.58 grams, however, most charms and some smaller / lighter jewllery weighs under this so will not be hallmarked, they are still all stamped 925 sterling silver, but they do not require hall marking.

What Happens To Items Sent To Assay For Hallmarking
When an item is received at an Assay office it goes through three processes:
SAMPLING to remove a tiny piece of the precious metal for testing
ASSAYING to determine whether the precious metal content of the alloy meets the required standard
HALLMARKING to apply the appropriate mark to the article

What Is Cubic Zirconia
Cubic Zirconia is a fine crystal, a man-made gemstone, no two colours are ever exactly the same, so colours may vary.

More Specific Information On CHARMS and JEWELLERY CARE Is Available by clicking either of these two links underlined here.

Further Questions

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