Sterling silver vs silver tone
Sterling silver is an alloy of 92.5% silver, stamped 925, and it has a melt value even when the piece is ugly. Silver tone is base metal coloured to look like it and is worth nothing by weight. Between them sit silver plate, which is a microscopic layer of real silver over base metal, and continental 800 silver, which is genuine silver at a lower standard. The stamp is the whole difference, and it takes five seconds to check.
The four things you will meet
Sterling: 925, sometimes with a country mark beside it. Continental silver: 800 or 835, common in Spanish, German, Italian and Eastern European pieces and genuinely silver. Silver plate: marked EPNS, 'silver plated', or 'A1', with real silver measured in microns. Silver tone: no mark at all, because there is nothing to declare.
How to check without a test kit
Read the mark first — clasps, ring interiors, earring posts, the bail of a pendant. Then look at how it has aged: sterling tarnishes to a warm grey-black that polishes off, while plate wears through at the high points and shows a yellowish base metal underneath, and silver tone usually just dulls evenly. A magnet is a useful negative test: silver is not magnetic, so a piece that jumps to a magnet is definitely not solid silver — though plenty of non-magnetic base metals exist, so passing proves nothing.
Why sellers say 'possible sterling'
Because checking a jar's worth of small pieces takes an afternoon, and 'possible' costs nothing. It is the single most common hedge in this market. Treat it as a statement that the seller has not looked — if they had, they would say 925, because saying so sells better.
What we do with silver
The Vintage Silver line is sorted for it: pieces are checked for the stamp before they go in, and the jar is described as sterling and silver-plated pieces rather than 'possible' anything. Vintage Silver — Classic is €34 for 25 pieces. Vintage Silver — Deluxe is the same sourcing, a bigger jar and more sterling: €69 for 45 pieces. If a jar were filled with silver tone we would call it silver tone, which is exactly what Gold-Tone Glamour says on the tin.
Living with silver
Tarnish is not damage. It is silver sulphide forming on the surface and it comes off with a polishing cloth in under a minute. Store pieces dry, away from wool and rubber bands, and ideally in a closed bag — air is what causes it. Do not use a dip solution on anything with a patinated recess or a soft stone; it strips the intentional darkening that makes a cast design readable.
The dealer's notes
Is 800 silver real silver?
Yes — 80% silver against sterling's 92.5%. It is the older continental standard and turns up constantly in Spanish and German estate pieces. It is worth less per gram than sterling and is often on the more interesting old work.
Does silver plate have any value?
Almost none by weight — the silver layer is measured in microns. Plated pieces are worth what the design and the maker are worth, which for a good mid-century piece can still be considerable.