Contents : 

1. A few definitions of silver jewelry

2. The different types of money

3. How to recognize silver jewelry?

4. Cleaning your silver jewelry

5. Why choose silver jewelry?

Have you fallen for one of our silver necklaces? Find them here.

Silver and gold are, without doubt, the best-known metals in the jewelry world. In the world of jewelry, you might say! While there's no doubt in most people's minds that gold is a precious metal, silver rarely gets the recognition it deserves!

But silver is also a precious metal!
"Really?! And how do you explain that silver jewelry is so inexpensive, compared to gold jewelry???" Silver saw its value decline when it ceased to be a reference metal for money creation. From thenon ,the price of silver fell sharply in relation to that of gold!

You probably thought, as I did, that gold was rarer and therefore more expensive... Well no! The opposite is true. Silver is becoming rarer and rarer. Sadly, it is even to disappear... According to most scientific predictions, we will have exhausted all its resources by 2025.

Do you see where I'm going with this?... Now is the time (or never) to treat yourself if you love silver jewelry! Indeed, in a few years' time, they may not be as affordable as they are today.

Before getting to the heart of the matter, we wanted to tell you a little about the symbolism of money and its myths and legends... If you're not interested and want to go straight to the point, (we won't hold it against you) click here!

Of Latin origin, "silver" means "white", "bright", "luminous".

Money is often associated with femininity, but do you know why? 

In Greek and Roman mythology, silver symbolized the divinity of the Moon. 

Selene, the Greek goddess of the Moon (Luna to the Romans) is always depicted in beautiful silver robes driving her chariot, also silver in color. In this way, Selene travels through the night, illuminating Heaven and Earth.
Among the Incas, the Moon was not only the Sun's sister, but also his wife.

The ancient Egyptians, for their part, were convinced that the bones of gods and goddesses were made of silver .There are so many more myths and legends from civilizations around the world that we'd have to devote an entire article to them... Let us know in the comments if you're interested!

As you now know, silver is as precious a metal as gold .

This metal is highly prized in jewelry because it is non-allergenic and can be stretched and worked without breaking. It's malleable yet strong, allowing jewelers to give birth to all their ideas. Whatever your style, you're bound to find a silver jewel to suit you!

But it's also their ultra-resistance that makes silver jewelry so popular with jewelry addicts...

Pure silver (also known as 999 silver) is not used in jewelry for the simple reason thatin its pure state, silver is far too soft.

Silver is generally alloyed with copper, which makes it more malleable and therefore easier for the jeweler to work. Once designed, the jewels will be all the more resistant!

There are many different types of silver in jewelry. You've probably heard of925 silver, rhodium-plated silver, passivated silver or Alpaca silver... all names that probably don't mean much to you.

So that silver jewelry no longer holds any secrets for you, stay with us!

In France, argent massif refers to 925 silver, and argent sterling is simply the English name for 925 silver. Yes, there are three different names for the same thing!

You've certainly heard of 925 silver, and you probably even own some... But do you know what it means? A piece of 925 silver jewelry contains 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% pure copper, quite simply... Why look for noon at 2 p.m.?!

When alloyed with copper, your silver ring can withstand shocks without the risk of warping! Without this alloy, you could easily twist your silver jewelry between your fingers, and we agree that's not the point! 

Rhodium-plated silver refers to silver jewelry that has been plated with rhodium. And now you're going to say to me, "You're very kind, but what exactly is rhodium?" 

Rhodium is a very rare, silvery-white, very hard and resistant metal that belongs to the same family as platinum (classy, eh?).

Rhodium-plated silver jewelry undergoes electrolysis to deposit rhodium on the surface of the silver jewelry. In other words, rhodium-plated silver is simply rhodium-plated 925 silver .

But what exactly does it do? Rhodium helps to remedy the problems of blackening and natural oxidation of silver jewelry. Your jewelry will stand the test of time even better, without the need for constant cleaning...

And what's more, the shine of the silver will be accentuated and your jewel will have the color of white gold! 

To obtain passivated silver, a thin layer of pure silver is applied to the 925 silver jewelry. Like rhodium plating, this protective layer slows down oxidation and intensifies the jewel's brilliance. In fact, pure silver oxidizes much less than 925 silver.

The passivation technique has proved its worth, but is still less effective than rhodium plating. 

Although it bears the name "silver", German silver does not contain pure silver! It's an alloy of zinc, nickel and copper that imitates the color of silver to perfection.

Unfortunately, it quickly oxidizes. 

Popular and widespread in Latin America, the sale of German silver jewelry is prohibited in France due to its composition . As nickel is a natural allergen, its use is strictly controlled by French legislation.

Since we don't want to lose you, we won't go into the details of the law, but please note that the nickel content of Alpaca jewelry exceeds the permitted level "in articles intended to come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin, such as earrings, necklaces, bracelets and chains...".

A little crush? All the jewels in this photo can be found here.

"Silver plated", "silver lined" or "silver metal" are three formulas that mean the same thing! Yes, again... So the regulations are the same! As with gold plating, silver-plated jewelry is created from a metal (usually copper or bronze) which is covered with a layer of silver.

Under French law, to qualify as "plated", "doubled" or "silver-plated", jewelry must contain a minimum of 500/1000 pure silver. Jewelry must therefore be coated witha minimum of 10 microns of silver.

Now that you know all about the different types of money, you need to know how to recognize them!

A lot of silver jewelry is sold as "real" silver, when in reality it's all fake... yes, some people are ashamed of nothing!
Would you like to be sure that you won't be fooled again when you buy silver jewelry?
We'll give you a few tips on how to recognize real silver.

• The responsibility hallmark, which corresponds to the hallmark of the artist/creator, manufacturer or importer of the jewel.
• The title hallmark (or State hallmark) guarantees the value of the precious metal.
  
  But what does the silver hallmark look like? The most common hallmark for silver jewelry is the famous "925" engraved on your piece.

With the little "925" mark above, you've got nothing to worry about!

Here's a reliable grandma's method!

Silver is not magnetic. So if you put a strong magnet near your jewel and it moves or sticks to it... you can be sure your jewel isn't silver!

However, if this method allows you to be sure that your jewel is not made of fake silver... it does not guarantee that it is pure silver. In fact, it could also be silver-plated, made of a non-magnetic metal such as copper...

OK... but how do you recognize silver-plated jewelry?

A simple trick is to weigh the jewel in your hands... Plated silver jewelry is much lighter than solid silver!

Well, since we're being nice, let's give you one last little trick to find out if a piece of jewelry is silver.

Take a coin (or other metal object) and tap it gently against your jewelry. If the sound you hear resembles the ringing of a bell, your jewel is made of silver! Please note thatthis method will only work if your jewelry is thick enough. Also, on a thin silver chain, it may be more difficult to hear a bell sound.

A crush on the ring in the photo? Find it here.

The reason we love silver jewelry so much is thatit lasts a lifetime! It's a good investment! However, silver naturally tarnishes and darkens over time. Don't worry, this is perfectly normal and doesn't mean that your silver jewelry isn't of high quality.

Perfumes, chemicals, perspiration and skin acidity can cause oxidation of your silver jewelry. But even when it oxidizes and silver blackens, it's easy to clean! And that's a pleasure!

So, before we give you all our tips for cleaning your silver jewelry, let's have a look at what not to do!

• Use a toothbrush with bristles that are too hard.
  You risk scratching your silver jewelry. Always use a soft cloth, such as chamois (the cloth you use to clean your glasses is perfect!).
  
  
• Clean up your jewelry!
  Chemical products will accelerate the oxidation of silver, and you'll end up with blackened jewelry.
  

So, how do you clean your jewelry? You know us by now... Chemical products that clean but are toxic to your health, it's a no-go!

Here are our tried and tested grandmotherly tips for gently cleaning your silver jewelry!

Here's a sneak preview of what it looks like on this little bracelet!

This pretty two-tone ring can be found on our site! Shop it by clicking here.