If you love silver jewellery as much as I do, you’ve probably come across the term Sterling Silver. But what does that actually mean, and how can you tell if your jewellery is the real deal? Let’s dive into what makes Sterling Silver so special — and how to keep your favourite pieces sparkling for years to come!

What is sterling silver?

There are many types of silver however Sterling Silver is the most commonly used and known silver. Sterling Silver is made up of 92.5% silver and 7.5% alloy - 100% pure silver is far too soft to be worn every day, so refiners mix in a little alloy (usually copper) to give it strength.

What's the hallmark for silver?

When checking to see if a piece of jewellery is made from sterling silver, you will be looking for a 925 stamp. If your piece is over 7.78g it should be fully hallmarked by an assay office by law, here in the UK.

A Full UK Hallmark consists of; the makers mark (mine is JL in a circle), the metal fineness - a lion and 925 will be present if it's sterling silver, the assay office stamp (a leopard head for London Assay office), and the date mark which is a letter (2025 is an "A"). - see the image at the top of this blog.

If it is under this weight limit, then there's no need to hallmark it & due to the cost associated with this, not many jeweller's will hallmark their smaller pieces - myself included! 

Sometimes you will find the pieces have been stamped with a "925" only and this has been done by the maker - not an assay office. An assay office will check the metal to ensure it is what it says it is. 

Does sterling silver turn you green or black? 

As with any metal, your skin acidity can play a big part in how the metals react. Skin acidity can be altered by simple things like which lotions you use, what make up you apply and the more complex things like certain medications you take. 

Sterling silver is made up of small amount of copper so there's always a chance you react to the copper content in silver resulting in a slightly green tinge however it should easily be washed off. 

If your sterling silver is turning your skin black, this is part of the oxidisation process for sterling silver - sometimes know as silver tarnish. The skin's acidity levels can speed up the natural tarnishing process. Have you ever been on holiday & forgotten to take your sterling silver jewellery off when in the swimming pool and it's went really black? That's due to the chlorine of the pool speeding up the process of oxidisation! Hence why us jewellers tell you to remove your jewellery when cleaning or swimming!

How to keep your Sterling Silver jewellery sparkling?

Now you understand that sterling silver can react to everyday items such as lotions, here's a few of my top tips that will help keep your jewellery sparkling!

1. Remove your jewellery before you bathe, go swimming or do the cleaning
2. Apply your moisturisers, perfumes and make up before putting on your jewellery & ensure the moisturisers and perfumes have dried first!
3. If you're not wearing your jewellery, give it a quick wipe down with a soft cloth and store it in an air tight bag. I always keep a polishing cloth in my jewellery box — it’s a life-saver.

Sterling Silver is such a beautiful, timeless metal — and when you know how to care for it, it’ll stay gorgeous for a lifetime. I hope this helped you understand a bit more about your jewellery! If you’re curious to see how I use Sterling Silver in my handmade designs, have a peek at my latest pieces. 💍