How to Find Authentic Sterling Silver Keyring?

A sterling silver keyring qualifies as the best gift for various occasions. It can be gifted to anyone and on any occasion. You can gift a personalised silver-plated keychain to your brother on his graduation, to your husband on his promotion, or to your friend on his birthday. It is also considered a good corporate gift item.

But, while buying any silver jewellery or other silver articles, you must be a little cautious. There are many sellers that dupe the customers by selling them low-quality silver or impure silver. This makes it very important for you to be very alert while shopping for any silver object from physical stores or online stores.

You must ascertain the quality of the silver you are buying.

Hallmarking of silver

The most sought-after and trusted way to find out the quality of silver is checking the hallmark. Hallmark is the correct determination of the real content of precious metal in silver. The same system is used to record the purity of metals like gold and platinum.

Hallmarking lets you know that you are buying pure silver. This prevents the sellers from duping customers by selling impure silver at the price of pure silver. This system is to ensure that the customers get the complete worth of their money.

In India, BIS or Bureau of Indian Standards launched the hallmarking system for silver in 2005. Under the scheme, the dealers were issued hallmark licenses for trading hallmarked silver jewellery, artefact or any other silver object. Since then, the genuine traders have been selling silver with hallmark sign.

Look for hallmarked sterling silver keyring

Whether you want to buy a sterling silver keychain for yourself or to gift it to someone, you must first ascertain that you are buying a genuine product. And, to ascertain the same, you must check the hallmark stamp on the keychain.

Here are the points that confirm that you are buying a fine silver keychain:

• BIS Mark

BIS Mark is the principal mark of purity of the silver. BIS Mark is basically a triangular symbol. There is a small dot inside the triangular symbol. This is actually the official logo of BIS or Bureau of Indian Standards.

This ensures that you are buying the purest silver. And, so, check for this sign when you buy silver keychain.

• Purity grade

Another thing that you must check before buying silver keychain is its purity grade. For fine silver, the grade is 999.9, 999.5 or 999. For alloys, the purity grade is 970, 925, 900, 835, or 800.

Artefacts, jewellery, and other silver objects like sterling silver keychain are made from silver alloys. Their purity grade ranges from 970 to 800, as mentioned above. You must ascertain the purity grade before buying silver keychain.

• The identification mark of the jeweller

Another way to verify the purity of silver is by the identification mark of the jeweller or seller. This mark helps in identifying the purity of the metal. Hence, you must check the mark before buying the keychain. If you couldn’t find it, you must ask the seller about it.

While buying anything is silver in India, you must check the above-mentioned signs.

Other ways to determine the purity of sterling silver keychain

Apart from these signs, there are some other easy hacks that can be used to determine the purity of the metal. When you buy the keychain, you can use any of these hacks to keep yourself safe from fraudulence.

Listed below are some easy hacks for determining the purity of sterling silver keyring:

• Magnet test

If you are buying silver keychain from a physical store, you must carry a magnet along with you. All you need to do is to run the magnet over the keychain. If the keychain sticks to the magnet, it denotes that the silver is not pure as sterling silver does not attract to a magnet.

If you have bought the keychain online, this is the first thing that you should do after receiving it. Return the parcel, if you receive impure silver keychain.

• Nitric acid test

Another way to determine the purity of the silver keychain is by the nitric acid test. When non-silver items come in contact with this chemical, they lose their colour.

You must ask the seller if you can perform this test on the sterling silver keyring. If the seller refuses, this is the first sign that he is selling you an impure item at the price of authentic silver.

While conducting the test, you must wear gloves and glasses to protect yourself. Drop a little nitric acid on a small part of the sterling silver keychain. If it is real, you will see no change in the colour, but, if it is fake, the part will turn green.

• The stink test

The easiest test to find out if the keychain is made of pure silver is by smelling it. Authentic sterling silver never stinks. If it stinks, it hints towards the presence of copper in it.

• Check the mark

As we have already mentioned in this blog, you must buy silver only after checking the mark. If your sterling silver keyring is pure, it will have markings like 925, Sterling Silver, or Ster. Look for these signs at every corner or secret places.

If you could not find the mark, you must not buy it.

A sterling silver keyring is indeed the best gift for anyone. Due to the presence of precious metal in abundance in sterling silver, it can be a little expensive. If a sterling silver keychain does not fit your budget, you can consider gifting silver-plated keychain. But, if you are adamant at gifting sterling silver, make sure you keep everything mentioned here in your mind and buy a pure sterling silver keyring for your loved one.