What does 925 means?

by Vera Torok

925 means Sterling Silver

If the piece has .925 (also written as 925.) stamped on it, this means that it is a silver alloy. Because pure silver is too soft to be used by itself in the making of jewelry, it is often mixed with other metals to be more durable and lustrous. 925 means that the metal is 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals (often copper and nickel).

So why does my gold jewelry has 925 on it?

You will often see gold jewelry stamped with this hallmark. This simply means that the piece of jewelry is silver that’s been plated in gold. The hallmark is stating the purity of the underlying metal and not of the gold plating.

Gold is commonly classified according to karatage, with the most popular karat being 18K, 14K, 12K, 10K and 9K. This states the amount of gold purity in each piece, with 24 being the maximum number of karats.

So, this means:

  • 24K gold = 99,9%
  • 22K gold = 91.7%
  • 18K gold = 75%
  • 14K gold = 58%
  • 10K gold = 41.7%
  • 9K gold = 39.7%

So what are Mel & Alecrim pieces made of?

Whenever you see a gold piece that says on the description "Sterling Silver" this means that the base of the piece is in fact 925 silver. On top of that, our jewelry is 18k gold plated, meaning the gold we use for the platting is 75% pure. 

 

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