Sterling Silver Pros & Cons

In this blog we will talk about the pro & cons of sterling silver as well as go over some alternatives for sterling silver.

​Quick definition: Sterling silver is recognized at a .925 purity anything past that is not considered sterling. The purity of any precious metal is out of 1 so a .925 purity means that .075 comes from a different metal. In the case of sterling silver, the .075 is made up of copper. So here is a list of pro & cons: Pros: ⚒Money- Sterling silver is the cheapest precious metal you can get.  ⚒Meting- Sterling silver has a much lower melting point than any of the silver colored alternatives (more information on alternatives further down)  ⚒Availability- Sterling silver is widely available anywhere you buy metals. Due to its low cost it is very easy to find in many forms  Cons: ⚒Petina-  If left alone sterling silver will petina due to its slight copper content. This can be okay for everyday use, but if a piece is sitting for too long it may turn black. ⚒Money- While some might consider the cost of sterling silver to be a pro others might very this a very negative con. This because sterling silver does not command as much as a price tag as its alternatives (more information on alternatives bellow). This can be quite limiting for those who are looking to charge more for their pieces.   This is a list of  the alternatives that can be found for sterling silver. This list only includes precious metals that are commonly used to create jewelry.  Alternatives: ⚒Pure silver Pure silver is the most obvious alternative to sterling silver. The answer is simple remove the .074 of copper and replace that with silver. Leaving you with .999 pure silver. However there are a few issues with this. The first is durability. One of the main reasons for adding copper to silver (making sterling silver) is to make it stronger without copper fine silver tends to be to week to make jewelry. Of course it can be formed, but it is subject to breaking and scratching more so then it's sterling counterpart. The second is availability. Fine silver is often invested in and not made into jewelry. So while you can most definitely buy fine silver online it is often in brick or coin form. Conclusion: Although fine silver is a alternative to sterling in color it lacks practically.  ⚒Platinum Platinum is a great alternative to sterling silver. It is very durable and works great for jewelry. However, when there are pros there are also cons. At the time of writing this planium is over $730 per ounce. This is more than fifty times the cost of sterling silver sitting at just $14 per ounce at the time of writing this.  Additionally Platinum can be hard to get your hands on as it is not widely distributed Conclusion: ​Great if you have the money ⚒White Gold  Many don't realize that White gold is an alloy. Similar to sterling silver white gold is not pure. White gold is made from 24 karat yellow gold mixed with fine silver to give it its white color (The amount depends on the karat of white gold). Like platinum it is a very expensive alternative for sterling silver. ​ Conclusion: ​Great if you have the money