Sterling silver consists of 92.5% real silver and 7.5% other metals. This is the common standard in Western countries, however, other parts of the world do not use this same mix, some favour using more real silver, some less. Under UK regulation, all jewellery that contains more than 7.78 grams of sterling silver must be hallmarked, but any sterling silver below this weight does not require hallmarking. This is not the same in all countries.
All Indigo Shore items in the Artisan Collection are hand made in India, where there is no regulatory hallmarking requirement for silver jewellery, however, many of our pieces are stamped 925. Some Artisan pieces are made using a different mix of real silver to alloy. This is standard practice in Indian jewellery making, although the real silver content is always greater than the non-precious alloy (and may occasionally be greater than 92.5% as the Indian tradition is to wear 99-100% solid silver jewellery). The mix is determined by the local goldsmith that makes the jewellery, based on the design of the piece in question and the metal strength required (as base silver is malleable).
Items in the MbyM Collection are hand made in the UK. All pieces contain less than 7.78 grams of sterling silver so do not require hallmarking, however all pieces are stamped 925.
Get in touch with us if you have any questions about any of our real silver jewellery.
