925 Sterling Silver

Since ancient times, people across the globe have considered silver a highly valued metal. Silver has many uses, one of which is jewelry. You'll find bracelets, necklaces, earrings and other accessories crafted of this precious metal.

Similar to gold, silver in its purest form is soft and delicate. In order to be used for jewelry, it is often combined with metal alloys, such as copper, to increase its strength. When pure silver is mixed with less than 7.5% alloy, it is known as sterling silver. Sterling silver is at least 92.5% pure silver and significantly more durable than regular silver. Sterling silver jewelry is stamped in various ways (such as "sterling" or "925") to indicate its content. At TDNStores.com, all of our silver jewelry is sterling silver.

Although some jewelry metals are resistant to tarnish, silver is not. If you have a silver piece that you do not wear very often, tarnish can build on its surface. Regular polishing with a silver cleaner can be a quick and easy solution. It's important to clean tarnish before it builds. Otherwise, it can cause long-term damage to your jewelry.

If you’re considering buying 925 Sterling Silver, you will no doubt want to know the difference between pure silver and 925 sterling silver. Well, pure silver is not really made up of only silver. It has 99.9% of silver, and a small content composed of other metals such as copper.

Sterling Silver, on the other hand, consists of 92.5% silver, and the remaining part consists of copper – mostly copper. This is the reason why Sterling Silver is popularly referred to as 925 Sterling Silver or just 925 Silver.

The reason silver needs to be combined with other metals is that it is very difficult to make great designs with just pure silver, which is very soft and malleable. A bit of hardness has to be introduced, by adding other metals such as copper. That’s why jewelers are capable of making the most intricate and complex designs with 925 Sterling Silver.