What Is Sterling Silver Jewelry?

Ah, what is it about sterling silver jewelry that makes us all yearn to accumulate them like crazy? Believe it or not, even men these days are collecting their own sets of sterling silver jewelry. There are some who own earrings, rings, and other forms of jewelry. Of course, women have always had this love affair with jewelry – all types in fact, from gold jewelry, to silver jewelry, to all manner of gemstones (i.e. cubic zirconia jewelry.) And collecting sterling silver jewelry only makes this love affair a stronger one. But what exactly is sterling silver jewelry?

It may come as a shocker to most of you, but there is a great difference between pure silver jewelry and sterling silver jewelry. In fact, there is hardly any pure silver jewelry in the market. This is because pure silver is something a bit impractical to use as a form of jewelry. Pure silver (99% fine silver) is usually too soft and malleable to be off any long-lasting use. Just think of how pliable aluminum foil can be; no matter how many folds of foil you have stacked on top of each other, it will still remain adaptable to a person’s hands. Now, we aren’t saying that pure silver jewelry is aluminum-foil-thin. It’s probably far from being that thin. However, what we are saying is that that pure silver cannot retain its shape and dimension without mixing alloys with it – a property that is similar to aluminum foil. With that in mind, you probably wouldn’t want pure silver jewelry in the first place.

That is where sterling silver jewelry comes in. The term sterling actually refers to the alloys mixed with the silver. Some of the conventional alloys used are copper (which is the most widely used alloy today), boron, germanium, platinum, silicon and zinc. Sterling silver jewelry is then usually defined as jewelry that should contain at least that 92.5% fine silver and 7.5% alloys. With sterling silver jewelry, you get to enjoy the beauty of silver, while being able to enjoy durability as well.

These days, as we have more advanced technology, sterling silver jewelry is often engineered. With the power to do this, we are able to enjoy a look for our jewelry that is more appealing and vibrant to any person. This is especially including those jewelry lovers! Some sterling silver jewelry is mixed with alloys that help them maintains a tarnish-free look. On the other hand, others are set in a way that make it so other forms some sort of iridescent multi-coloration to enhance the gemstones or minerals embedded within. This is something that you probably see most often in silver and CZ jewelry. A great example of this are the new emerging designs for CZ rings set in sterling silver. It doesn’t really matter how a piece of sterling silver jewelry is engineered or enhanced, as it is always ensured that every piece is a piece that anyone will enjoy.
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