Choosing a silver pendant: a plain guide

A silver pendant has its own small vocabulary: 925, sterling, hallmark, chain length and stone name. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver by weight, with the rest usually copper.

What 925 means

Sterling silver has a fineness of 925 parts per thousand. Pure silver is too soft for everyday jewellery, and the copper adds hardness.

A "925" stamp says the piece meets that standard. The pendant names on our shelf include Solid 925 Sterling Silver, such as the Peridot Faceted Small Pear Pendant and the Tree of Life Oval Pendant.

The hallmark, and why a small pendant may not carry one

Under the Hallmarking Act 1973, a silver item of 7.78 grams or more must be hallmarked by a UK assay office before it can be sold as silver. Lighter items are exempt, which is why a small pendant or a pair of studs may carry only a 925 stamp.

The four UK assay offices are London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh. A full hallmark carries the sponsor's mark, the fineness mark and the assay office mark. The date letter has been optional since 1999.

The stones, plainly

Peridot is the gem variety of the mineral olivine, yellowish-green to olive, with hardness 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale. Topaz is an aluminium silicate with hardness 8. Almost all blue topaz sold has been irradiated and heated to reach its colour.

Opal is a mineraloid of hydrated silica, appears in every colour, and has hardness 5 to 6.5. Opal is softer and easier to chip than most stones.

Cubic zirconia is a lab-made zirconium oxide material used as a diamond look-alike, with hardness 8 to 8.5.

Chain length and how a pendant sits

A 16-inch chain sits at the base of the throat. An 18-inch chain sits at or just below the collarbone and is the most common length. A 20-inch chain sits a little lower and suits higher necklines.

Small pear pendants, oval pendants and cross pendants each sit differently once a chain is added. The pendant shape is the little part everyone sees first, but the chain length decides where it lands.

Keeping silver bright

Tarnish is silver sulphide, a dark film formed when silver meets sulphur compounds in the air. Standard trade care is gentle: a soft cloth, or mild soap and warm water, followed by a good rinse and careful drying.

Silver is best kept in a closed box or pouch. Standard trade advice also keeps silver away from perfume, lotion, hairspray, swimming pools and the sea. The useful thing is to separate the small marks from the stone names. A 925 stamp speaks to the silver standard, while peridot, blue topaz, opal and cubic zirconia each describe a different material in the setting. Zilver jewellery is on the site here: https://goldenhands.co.uk/collections/zilver-jewellery-collection