Sterling Silver vs. Fine Silver: Comparison

History of Silver

Silver has been hailed for thousands of years for its beauty and strength. Before it was used in jewelry, silver was used to make coins. It is often used for silver jewelry such as silver rings, silver earrings, silver bracelets, and silver necklaces. Pure silver is naturally soft. However, this beautiful metal can be reinforced to make strong and durable pieces possible. Each has its advantages in terms of sterling silver vs. fine silver.

Two Types of Silver

Two main types of silver are used to make jewelry:

Both types of silver come from pure silver. As mentioned above, pure silver is soft and easily damaged. As a result, additional metals are added to the silver to increase strength, durability, and resistance to damage.

Sterling Silver

Coin silver is more of an alloy, which means mixed with other metals and silver. Copper is usually a metal that is added to form an alloy. In addition, other metals such as zinc, platinum, and boron can be mixed to form the alloy.

Fine Silver

Although .925 silver is the most common type used in jewelry, it is not the only type. Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver and is marked with 0.999. Fine silver jewelry requires great care because it is soft and easy to bend or break. Fine silver has only 1/10 one percent of the other metal in combination to add strength. Because of this, beautiful silver jewelry can easily break and shatter.