Jewelry: Precious Metals?

There are just a few metals that are considered to be "precious": gold, silver, and the platinum metals group (ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum).

In jewelry, of course there are the various Karats of solid gold: 10K, 14K, and 18K being the most common, in both yellow gold and white gold.

Silver is either Sterling Silver (hallmarked ".925") or higher "fine" silver content metals (higher than 92.5% silver, such as Hill Tribe silver, PMC, etc., and can be 99% pure silver).

Often, silver jewelry is plated with Rhodium (a platinum metal) to give it extra durability and shine. Even white gold and platinum jewelry is plated with Rhodium!

However, there is NO SUCH THING as "sterling silver plated" jewelry! By law, jewelry which is sterling silver is marked as such (.925) and is only sterling silver, sometimes plated with rhodium. I think sellers use the term "sterling plated" to make their items SOUND much better than they are, and sadly, customers are fooled into thinking they are getting something that's better than other silver-plated items....NOT TRUE! There is Sterling Silver (.925), and there is silver-plated. That's it!! **SILVER PLATED** jewelry is "flashed" with silver, and wears off easily.

ALL metals will "tone" or tarnish over time, due to exposure to the environment! Even gold will "tone" but silver tarnishes quite easily. You can keep your silver jewelry tarnish-free by keeping unworn pieces in an air-tight, zip-lock bag. And a little swipe with a polishing cloth will make jewelry look beautiful and shiny!

Just be an educated consumer! Ask questions, use Google, and KNOW what you're buying!! Brass (a "base" metal), silver-plated and gold-plated jewelry can be a really cheap alternative to the skyrocketing cost of solid precious metal jewelry, so if you know what you're getting, you can make an informed purchase.