Sterling silver and why is it so popular in jewelry manufacturing

Sterling silver is probably the most common material for jewelry production nowadays. There are jewelry garments in all styles and price categories made of sterling silver. But what is it that makes producers to choose sterling silver as their main material for jewelry?

Firstly, let's look at what the name of sterling silver has in itself. If translated from ancient Greek, stereos (transformed into sterling) means solid. It is not true though, as sterling silver consists of only 92.5% of pure silver, and the rest is made up of different material, usually copper. It is node made to trick consumers into thinking that they are buying pure gold when they don't, it has a more important reason behind it. Pure silver itself is a very soft material, and there is no point in using in in production of any items as it will be damaged quickly. On contrary, when silver is melted together with another metal, it becomes sturdier without losing much of it's flexibility. It means that sterling silver gamrents, when made using right technologies and using high quality material, will be less prone to damages and will last their owners for decades and even generations (remember silver cutlery, holloware and flatware which was passed for many generations).

This way, sterling silver became the most popular material due to its' outstanding qualities. Sterling silver is not only used on its' own, but is also improved by plating with different metals. It is made for different reasons, one of them being that silver items are prone to tarnish, so they have to be contantly cleaned to maintain their polished finish. Instead, if silver is plated with another metal, it will never tarnish. Another reason for plating silver is achieving look of more expensive metals, such as gold and platinum, without having to make an item of solid gold, which would be too expensive. Among different types of plating the most popular ones are gold plating and rhodium plating.

Gold plating can be of different colors, like yellow, rose or white gold, and rhodium gives silver a highly polished look and makes it to remind of platinum. Plating can be of different thicknesses, which will of course affect both the price and durability of the garment. But when plating is done well, it will last you long no matter how thin it is. In any case, you can always bring your jewelry to a trusted goldsmith and have it replated again.

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