How to check silver

How to check silver

Nowadays, more and more people prefer silver jewelry when buying jewelry. Although this precious metal is sold in any jewelry store, not all people can distinguish it from a fake.

Each piece of jewelry, before it acquires a finished look, is melted, cast and mixed with other metals to give it the appropriate color and rigidity. The numbers on the sample indicate the amount of pure metal in the product as a percentage. For example, the 585 sample contains 58.5% pure soft gold. There are also other samples: 375, 500, 750, 900, 958, 999.

The standard 925 silver sample means that the product contains 92.5% pure silver and very few impurities of other metals.

There are also several silver samples, for example, for special products where filigree technique is used, 960 is used. The maximum silver sample is 999, but it is used to create ingots and industrial needs. The lowest is 600, it is used for cheap jewelry in poor countries.

In Russia, 916, 925 and 960 samples are used for jewelry.

When jewelry is made of gold, impurities of other metals are added to it to give rigidity. The different color is also determined by additional impurities. White gold contains more silver, which gives it a steel color, yellow — silver with zinc, and red — copper. The color of gold determines only the percentage of impurities, so jewelry made of white gold in its value does not differ from products made of red, yellow or rose gold. There are also additional colors: green, black and even purple gold.

There are cases when they order a piece of jewelry according to an individual sketch in a private workshop and ask to make it in a very short time. The master, trying to meet the deadline, may not have time to deliver a sample, since this process takes time. In this case, the decoration is not a fake.

It's just the way things happened. To avoid such situations, it is necessary to coordinate the timing in advance and carefully check the product if the presence of a sample is important.

Brand

The brand reflects another process of testing jewelry — thus the state and the jeweler confirm that the product is real and produced legally. The sample consists of two brands:

the first is the jeweler's brand, or "namesake";

The second is a sample of the Federal Assay Chamber.

The sample and the brand indicate the amount of gold content in the jewelry — its value. Therefore, if you invest in gold jewelry and things, pay attention to the percentage of pure gold in the composition.

Since silver is a less soft material than gold, jewelry suppliers such as https://silver-wings.ru /, can give jewelry from it the most intricate shapes. In addition, silver is cheaper than gold, and therefore fake jewelry among silver products are less common than among gold products.

The choice of products made of silver must be carried out taking into account the fact that certified jewelry has a factory stamp and a sample. Most silver products are marked with an indication of 925 sterling silver. It is necessary to take into account the fact that silver products with a lower breakdown darken quickly enough and lose their external attractiveness. In addition, at present, consumers often purchase jewelry made of blackened silver, made using a special technology that provides for the application of resistant ink to the product at high temperature. This method provides an opportunity to give the decoration an unusual vintage look. Since blackened silver does not need regular cleaning with constant wear, it is a very practical material.

When selecting the design of silverware, it is important to take into account that jewelry with protruding and sharp parts can cling to clothes, creating noticeable inconveniences in the process of wearing them. Detachable bracelets, neck jewelry and silver brooches should be equipped with reliable and convenient locks, on which the ease of use of these jewelry largely depends.

Silver is widely used to make frames for various precious stones, for example, emeralds, rubies and pearls. When buying jewelry made of this metal with precious stones, you need to make sure that all the features and characteristics of inserts made of stones are indicated in their passports.

Despite a certain insurance against counterfeiting, it is worth following some rules if you want to buy silver jewelry:

When buying, be sure to pay attention to the presence of a brand. The highest quality products will be with the numbers "925", which means that the decoration is made of sterile silver. When choosing a product, carefully study the passport-a small cardboard box on which the weight, sample, impurities that were added, as well as the type of stone inserts are written.

Silver is combined with all opaque stones. Amethyst is combined only with silver. At the same time, you can not limit yourself in the color of the stone and choose the option that really emphasizes your natural beauty. Elegant wrists will emphasize thin bracelets, and for wide ones it is a great option to choose a massive bracelet with stones. Necklaces with large stones or a short necklace will emphasize a beautiful neck, a long necklace will shift the focus to the neckline of the dress and the beauty of the bust.

You should approach the choice of silver earrings very carefully: more elongated earrings are perfect for a round face, and round and large ones are perfect for an oval face. Silver does not go well with zircon, tourmaline and amber.

Folk ways of checking silver

Magnet. This method is used to test both gold and silver. To determine the authenticity of the jewelry, you need to bring it to the magnet. If it attracts, it means a fake. Pure metal is not used in the creation of gold and silver jewelry.

Ammonia. This method is only suitable for checking gold jewelry. A clean product should be rubbed with a cotton pad soaked in ammonia for about 15 seconds. If a blue shade remains on the disc, then the product was made of brass or copper. Gold jewelry will not leave a trace.

Iodine. One of the old ways of checking jewelry. First, the decoration must be cleaned with alcohol and allowed to dry, then apply iodine to it with a cotton swab and wipe dry with a napkin. If the iodine stain on the napkin brightens, you have brass or copper in front of you.

If the stain remains dark, it means that the decoration is made of gold.

Important! Such a check does not guarantee 100% originality of the decoration, because only the surface layer can be checked. A folk test can show that the product is gold, and with a more thorough check it turns out that several layers of gilding were applied to it.

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