How is sterling silver tested?

Perhaps you bought a piece of silver online from a dodgy site, or your friend gave you a piece she found. Maybe you just want to check out some family heirlooms that you're not totally sure are real. Whatever your reason, you'll need to know how to test your silver. Silver is a versatile chemical element. Sterling silver is 92. read more

Here are some ways that you can check the authenticity of your sterling silver: Cloth Test - Using a soft white cloth, rub a small part of the jewelry. If the surface produces a black mark, it means that the product is sterling silver. However, if there's no color change, it means it's fake. read more

Silver acid tests are great for pure silver, but if you think your piece is silver plated, you will have to use a small jeweler's file to make a mark, revealing what might be under the plating. 3 Find an inconspicuous place on the item in question and make a small scratch on the silver piece. read more

The simplest test is to see if they say "Sterling". If they do, they're silver. If they don't, the chance of them being silver is fairly slim. Unfortunately silver plated holloware, with few exceptions, is pretty much valueless => I see "We buy gold" signs on every other street corner these days; I think any of those places can identify silver as well. read more