How to Tell If Silver Is Real (And What CRAFTD Actually Uses)

Two questions bring people here, so here are both answers up front.

Can you tell if silver is real at home? Usually you don't have to. If the piece weighs more than 7.78 grams it should carry a British hallmark, which is an independent test rather than a claim. If it's lighter than that, and a lot of chains are, put an ice cube on it. Silver conducts heat better than any metal on earth, so ice melts on it visibly faster than on anything else.

Is CRAFTD real silver? Partly, and we'd rather tell you straight than let you find out later. Our 925 Collection is genuine sterling silver. Most of our other silver-tone pieces are solid 316L stainless steel finished in rhodium, which is not silver. Both are stated on every product page, and the section below explains why we build it that way.

Jump to:

• Is CRAFTD Real Silver?
• Why We Use Steel for Most of It
• Start With the Hallmark
• Five Tests You Can Do at Home
• Which Tests to Trust
• What the Tests Can't Tell You
• What If It's Silver Plated?
• FAQs

Is CRAFTD Real Silver?

People ask us this a lot, which is fair, so here's the complete answer rather than a comfortable one.

Our 925 Collection is genuine sterling silver. 92.5% pure silver, and it behaves exactly as sterling should: it will tarnish over time and polish straight back, because the silver goes all the way through. It sits in the sterling silver collection.

Most of our other silver-tone pieces are not silver. They're a solid 316L stainless steel core finished in rhodium. Our own product pages say so in the materials section, on every piece, in those words. Steel is silver-coloured rather than silver, and we don't describe it as anything else.

So if the question is whether you're being sold sterling when you thought you were, the answer is no, because it's written on the page you bought from. And if the question is whether we make real silver at all, the answer is yes, and it's a specific collection you can go and look at.

How to check any piece of ours in ten seconds: open the product page and read the Our Materials section. It names the metal outright. Sterling pieces say 925 sterling silver. Steel pieces say 316L stainless steel finished in rhodium. There's no third category and nothing is implied.

Why We Use Steel for Most of It

Worth explaining, because "it's not silver" sounds like a downgrade and in daily wear it usually isn't.

Sterling silver is a genuine precious metal and it has one real drawback: it tarnishes. That's not a fault, it's chemistry, and it happens to every piece of sterling ever made. Polishing it back takes two minutes, but it recurs, and it recurs faster on something worn against skin every day.

316L stainless steel doesn't tarnish, corrode or fade. Finished in rhodium it reads as bright silver, and it survives showers, sweat and years of contact without asking anything of you. It's also well tolerated by sensitive skin, which matters more than most people realise on a piece worn continuously.

So the two aren't competing on the same axis. Sterling is the choice if you want a precious metal and don't mind the upkeep. Steel is the choice if you want the look with none of it. Neither is a substitute for the other and we sell both on purpose.

What we won't do is call steel silver, which is exactly the thing that makes people ask this question in the first place.

Start With the Hallmark

Britain has something most of the world doesn't, and it makes this question far easier to answer here than it is almost anywhere else.

Any silver article weighing over 7.78 grams must be independently tested and hallmarked before it can legally be sold as silver in the UK. Not marked by the maker. Tested by one of four assay offices that has no stake in the sale, under the Hallmarking Act. Applying a hallmark falsely is a criminal offence rather than a trading standards matter.

A full hallmark carries three compulsory marks, and you want all three:

• The sponsor's mark. At least two letters in a surround, identifying who submitted the piece.
• The fineness mark. 925 for sterling, inside a shaped surround that tells you the metal is silver.
• The assay office mark. Which office tested it. London's is the leopard's head, and the others are Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.

The recognised British standards for silver are 800, 925 sterling, 958 Britannia and 999 fine. Sterling at 925 is the one you'll meet almost every time.

The Exemption That Catches People Out

Silver articles under 7.78 grams are exempt. That is not a loophole, it's the law, and it matters enormously here because a great many chains, studs and light pendants weigh less than that. A fine sterling chain may be entirely genuine and carry no hallmark whatsoever.

So read the absence of a mark carefully. On a light piece it proves nothing. On something substantial, it's a real warning sign, because a heavy silver article sold without a hallmark is being sold in breach of the Act.

You'll also meet a bare 925 stamp with no assay marks beside it, which is common on imported and lightweight pieces. That's the maker's own claim, the way most of the world does it. It isn't worthless, but it isn't a hallmark either. What 925 means on jewellery covers the mark in full, and the symbols stamped on jewellery covers the rest of what you'll find alongside it.

Five Tests You Can Do at Home

For anything under the hallmarking threshold, or anything you simply want to check yourself.

1. The ice test, and it's the best one

Put an ice cube on the piece and another on a coin or a steel spoon. The one on silver will melt noticeably faster.

This works because silver has the highest thermal conductivity of any metal, higher even than copper. It pulls heat out of the room and into the ice far quicker than anything it's likely to be confused with. It's non-destructive, needs nothing you don't already own, and it tests a physical property rather than a claim someone stamped on.

2. The magnet test

Silver isn't magnetic. Hold a magnet to the piece and nothing should happen.

If it pulls, there's ferromagnetic metal in there, which on a silver-coloured piece usually means a steel or nickel-bearing core under plating. This is excellent for ruling silver out and useless for confirming it, since plenty of non-magnetic metals aren't silver either.

3. The white cloth test

Rub the piece firmly with a clean white cloth. A black mark on the cloth is a good sign.

That mark is tarnish lifting off, and tarnish is silver reacting with sulphur in the air. Steel doesn't do it. So the thing that looks like the piece is dirty is actually strong everyday evidence that it's genuine. Worth one caution: copper alloys tarnish too, so a mark on the cloth rules steel out rather than ruling silver in.

4. The smell test

Rub it between your fingers for a few seconds and smell them. Silver has no odour. A distinct metallic or coppery smell suggests a copper-heavy base alloy rather than sterling.

It's the least precise of the five, but it takes two seconds and it's occasionally decisive.

5. Weight in the hand

Silver is denser than steel or brass, so a sterling piece feels heavier than a plated one of the same size. This only works if you have something to compare against, but if you own one piece you're confident about, it becomes a useful reference for everything else.

Which Tests to Trust

What the Tests Can't Tell You

Two honest limits, because most articles on this leave them out.

None of the home tests measure purity. They can tell you something is silver rather than steel. They can't tell you it's 92.5% rather than 80%, and 800 is a recognised standard in its own right. Only an acid test, an XRF scanner or an assay office does that.

And plating defeats most of them. A thick silver plating over a non-magnetic base can pass the magnet test, leave a mark on a cloth and feel reasonably heavy. The giveaway is wear: look at the clasp, the edges, and anywhere that takes constant contact. Plating goes there first, and when it does you'll see a different colour underneath. Sterling wears evenly and stays the same colour all the way down.

This is the one place the British system genuinely beats testing at home. A hallmark answers the purity question outright, which no ice cube can.

What If It's Silver Plated?

Then you're dealing with a different material, and the question changes from "is it real" to "how much is on there and what's underneath".

Silver plated means a thin layer of silver bonded to a base metal. The silver is genuine as far as it goes, but it's a surface rather than the object, and it wears through at the points that take the most contact. Once it does, what shows is the base metal, and if that base contains copper it can mark skin. A plated piece can never carry a hallmark, because a hallmark certifies the metal an article is made of and not a coating on it.

We've covered how to separate the two properly in silver plated vs sterling silver, and if the question underneath yours is really what sterling is in the first place, the difference between silver and sterling silver takes that on.

For keeping genuine silver looking right once you've established that's what you have, how to clean sterling silver covers every method, how to clean a silver chain covers the links and the clasp, and how long sterling silver lasts covers storage and lifespan.

FAQs

Is CRAFTD real silver?

Partly, and we'll tell you which is which. Our 925 Collection is genuine sterling silver. Most of our other silver-tone pieces are solid 316L stainless steel finished in rhodium, which is not silver and isn't sold as silver. Every product page states which one you're looking at under Our Materials.

Does CRAFTD London use real silver?

Yes, in the 925 Collection, which is genuine sterling silver. Elsewhere in the range we use rhodium-finished 316L stainless steel, chosen deliberately because it doesn't tarnish and holds up to daily wear better than sterling does. Both are stated openly on the product pages.

How can you tell if silver is real?

Look for a hallmark first, since in Britain that is an independent test rather than a claim. If the piece is too light to need one, check for a 925 stamp and then test it. The ice test is the most reliable thing you can do at home: silver conducts heat better than any other metal, so ice melts noticeably faster on it. A magnet is the quickest way to rule something out.

Does all real silver have a hallmark?

No, and this is where people go wrong. Silver articles under 7.78 grams are exempt from compulsory hallmarking in the UK, and a great many chains, studs and light pendants fall under that. A missing hallmark on a light piece proves nothing at all. On anything substantial, the absence of one is a genuine warning sign.

Does real silver stick to a magnet?

No. Silver isn't magnetic, so a piece that pulls toward a magnet contains a meaningful amount of ferromagnetic metal, usually a steel or nickel-bearing core under plating. It's a reliable way to rule silver out, though it can't confirm it on its own.

Does real silver tarnish?

Yes, and that's a sign it's genuine rather than a fault. Silver reacts with sulphur compounds in the air to form a dark surface layer. It polishes off in a couple of minutes and comes back eventually, which is simply what silver does.

Is 925 always real silver?

The mark means 92.5% silver, but a bare 925 stamp is the maker's own claim. A British hallmark is different: it carries a sponsor's mark and an assay office mark alongside the fineness, and it means an independent office tested the metal. Applying one falsely is a criminal offence. A 925 stamp with nothing beside it is worth a second look.

What's the difference between real silver and silver plated?

Plated jewellery is a thin silver layer over a base metal, so the silver is only ever a surface and it wears through. Sterling is silver all the way down. Our guide to silver plated against sterling silver goes through how to tell them apart.

Does stainless steel count as real silver?

No, and nobody should tell you it does. Steel is silver-coloured, not silver. What it offers instead is that it doesn't tarnish, doesn't corrode and is well tolerated by sensitive skin, which is why it's used so widely in men's everyday jewellery.

Will an acid test damage my jewellery?

Yes, slightly, which is why it's a jeweller's tool rather than a home one. It removes a tiny amount of metal from an inconspicuous spot. For anything valuable it's worth the appointment, and for anything else the tests above will get you there.

Where to Go From Here

Hallmark first if the piece is heavy enough to need one, ice cube second if it isn't, and look at the wear points if anything still doesn't add up. That's most of what a jeweller would do before reaching for the acid.

If you want genuine sterling from us, it's the 925 Collection. If you want the silver look without the upkeep, that's the rhodium-finished steel, and now you know exactly which one you're buying.