I love silver jewelry , and have been wearing it since I was a teenager. I have some pieces that are probably older than many of you who will read this guide! I also wrote this because after shopping on ebay I realized that not all Sellers were being clear about what type of silver they were selling and some Buyers were not familiar with the difference say, between German silver and Sterling Silver ( 925 silver ans up) .

925 silver is the most common sold here on eBay, and you may also find 950 - which has a higher quantity of silver in the mix.  Silver, like gold, is too soft to be used by itself in the making of jewelry , cutlery, or other items. I hope this guide will help you as you search for that perfect item .

 What Is 925 Silver?

925 silver is the standard used by craftsmen. The number refers to the amount of silver in a piece.
It is a mix of  92.5% silver and 7.5% copper.( Copper is not always used  and it can be replaced by other metals or alloys (combinations of materials). Copper is cheap and the refining techniques have greatly improved over the years.

Again,pure silver cannot be used in making jewelry as it is extremely malleable and is easily damaged.. It can also become very soft even under normal conditions and temperatures.

The method of adding other alloys to silver increases  the strength of the metal . So by combining pure silver with alloys the craftsmen  can make pieces of jewelry that are much more resistant to scratching and breaking.


German Silver, Nickel Silver, Paktong ,Alpaca

China was the first place Nickel silver was used. The West "discovered" it  from imported goods called paktong or pakfong (that means "white copper") where its silvery color was used to imitate sterling silver.
 In 1770 the Suhl (Germany) metalworks were able to produce a similar alloy and in 1823 a competition was initiated to perfect the production process by creating an alloy that possessed the closest visual similarity to silver. The Henniger Brothers of Berlin and a man named Geitner in Schneeberg independently achieved this goal. Alpacca became a widely known name in northern Europe for nickel silver after it was used as a trademark brand by the manufacturer Berndorf. A type of German silver was also invented in Birmingham, England in 1832.

Nickel silver became widely used after 1840 with the development of electroplating, as it formed an ideal strong and bright substrate for the plating process.It was also used un-plated in applications such as less expensive cutlery,jewlry,etc...

 
I copied this last part from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia :

Nickel silver is a metal alloy of copper with nickel and often but not always zinc. It is named for its silvery appearance, but contains no elemental silver unless plated. Other common names for this alloy are German silver, paktong, new silver and alpacca (or alpaca).

 Composition

Many alloys fall within the general term of "nickel silver". All contain copper and nickel, while some formulations may additionally include zinc, antimony, tin, lead, or cadmium. A representative industrial formulation, Alloy No. 752, is 65% copper, 18% nickel, and 17% zinc. The white alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel used in coins, such as the United States nickel, is better known as copper-nickel, cupro-nickel or cupronickel.

Some nickel silver alloys, especially those containing high proportions of zinc, are stainless (corrosion-resistant).

Nickel silver alloys are commonly named by listing their percentages of copper and nickel, thus "nickel silver 55-18" would contain 55% copper, 18% nickel, and 27% other elements, most probably entirely zinc. A two-element alloy may be named for its nickel content alone, thus NS-12 is 88% copper and 12% nickel.

 Uses

Nickel silver first became popular as a base metal for silver plated cutlery and other silverware, notably the electroplated wares called EPNS (electro-plated nickel silver).

It is used in zippers, better-quality keys, costume jewellery, for making musical instruments (e.g., cymbals), and is preferred for the track in electrically powered model railway layouts as its oxide is conductive. Also, after about 1920, its use became widespread for pocketknife bolsters, due to its machinability and corrosion resistance. Prior to this point, most common was iron.

It is widely used in the production of coins (e.g. GDR marks, Portuguese escudo).

Its industrial and technical uses include marine fittings and plumbing fixtures for its corrosion resistance, and heating coils for its high electrical resistance.

It was used in the construction of the Arly tricone resophonic guitar. It is also used to produce the tubes (called staples) onto which oboe reeds are tied. Guitar frets are made from it, as well on mandolin, banjo, bass, etc.

Musical instruments, including the flute, saxophone, and French horn can be made of nickel silver. For example, some leading saxophone manufacturers such as Keilwerth, Selmer, P.Mauriat, Yanagisawa, and Yamaha offer saxophones made of nickel silver which possess a bright and powerful sound quality; an additional benefit is that nickel silver does not require a lacquer finish. For that reason also, it is the most commonly used woodwind keys material - most clarinets, oboes and similar wind instruments have nickel silver keys.

According to the Merck Manual 17th edition p56, prolonged contact of copper alloys with acidic food or beverages (including boiling milk) can leach out the copper and cause toxicity. Long term, low doses can lead to cirrhosis. It should be of interest that cadmium is known to cause renal failure.