If when you read “925 silver” you think that 925 is the civic number of silver, you are in the right article: let's try to clarify a little!
What are we talking about in this article?- What does 925 mean in jewelry?
- And what is the remaining metal?
- And how do I know what metal my jewelry is made of?
- What is trademark?
- And what does nickel-free mean?
What does 925 mean in jewelry?
925 is, technically, the title of the metal. The title indicates the pure quantity of the metal in thousandths, in this case silver. This means that out of 1000 parts of precious metal there are 925 parts of pure silver. The title is a concept that applies to all precious metals, for example in gold it is possible to find the wording "gold 750", the same reasoning applies: out of 1000 parts of precious metal there are 750 parts of pure gold. It will be clear at this point that the higher the number of the title, the more valuable the jewel is.
And what is the remaining metal?
Anything that is not pure metal is a mix of non-precious metals that are used to make the metal alloy. A jewel made only of pure metal cannot stand up and must be combined with less precious metals to make it more stable, shinier, more robust. A bit like the egg in sweets, or in meatballs, or in omelettes: it holds everything together! It is important that the title is indicated correctly, if it is indicated as "925 silver" but a chemical test detects that the quantity of pure silver is less than 925 we are faced with theft.
And how do I know what metal my jewelry is made of?
In the case of non-precious metals, such as bronze or brass, manufacturers are not required to mark the jewelry to indicate the metal. So if you have a bronze or brass necklace there are no engravings indicating the title. If there are engravings it is more likely that they are identifying the brand and not the metal. In the case of precious metals, such as gold or silver, it is mandatory for manufacturers selling in Italy to apply:
- the metal title (we always mark it with 925!)
- the trademark
What is trademark?
The trademark is the identification number of the company that produced the jewel, they are numbers assigned to companies progressively. Do you know the most famous wedding ring company in Italy? It is UNOAERRE, and they are our fellow citizens. UNOAERRE was the first company to produce precious metals in our city, a true pillar in the history of the sector and their name helps us to better explain what the trademark is and how it is composed.
On April 2, 1935, they received the first trademark of the province, which, in full, would coincide with the name of the company: UNOAERRE (1AR). Being the first goldsmith company in Arezzo, they were assigned the number 1, plus the acronym for the province of Arezzo. The trademark shown on GIUZI jewels is 341 AR, because when grandmother Giuseppina registered her own trademark (we are already in the 70s) the number assigned was: 341, plus the acronym for the province, therefore: 341 AR. Today Arezzo has more than 2,000 trademarks!
And what does nickel-free mean?
It means that there are no traces of nickel in the jewel: in reference to the REACH Regulation and the European regulation UNI EN1811:2011 which came into force on 01/04/2013, the use of nickel, lead and cadmium is prohibited in all jewellery products intended to come into contact with the skin. We strictly comply with the regulation and make sure that all our suppliers do the same: it is important to offer quality products that do not harm anyone . When we write nickel-free it really means nickel-free!
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