How to know the value of a silver ring?
You own silver jewelry that you want to sell because they’ve got too big, too small, or just because you don’t like them anymore, but you would like to know how much they’re worth first to know if you can get a good price? It’s completely possible to determine the value of a silver ring with simple tests you can run directly at home.
Thus, you’ll be able to get an estimation of how much your silver jewel is worth and to sell it to private individuals with proofs its authenticity.
Identifying hallmarks
Just like for gold jewelry, there are silver-jewelry-specific hallmarks that determine that determine their purity degree. What we call purity degree is the amount of pure silver the piece of jewelry contains. For example, the numbers 925 or 800 are often hallmarked on the inside of silver rings. These numbers means the jewel contains respectively 92.5% and 80% of pure silver. Of course, the higher the number, the more pure silver the jewel contains.
There are also other hallmarks like:
- 999: 24-karat pure silver. Never used in the jewelry industry because it’s too malleable
- 958: 23-karat Britannia silver
- 835: 20 karat silver
However, since rings are worn on a daily basis, hallmarks can fade because of the rubbing of the skin against the jewelry or household products.
When you purchase a piece of jewelry, jewelers always provide you an authentication certificate that guarantees the authenticity of the silver ring. You can also take a photo of the hallmark on your ring and keep it as a proof in case you want to sell your silver ring.
Testing your silver jewelry
Once again, silver jewelry can be identified thanks to several tests that determine their authenticity, just like it’s done for gold jewelry. By the way, the tests we can run on silver jewelry are similar to those we run on gold jewelry.
Testing the ring with a magnet
Just like gold, your silver jewelry can be identified using to a magnet. Gold and silver are two non-magnetic metals. Thus, if you bring a magnet near your silver ring, it shoudn’t react. Otherwise, it means your silver ring is not silver, but maybe steel.
Rubbing your ring with a flannel fabric
For this trick, you’ll need to make a small investment, but not an expensive one. Many sewing stores offer flannel fabric, and that’s what you’ll need to determine if your ring is truly silver or not. To know it, all you have to do is rub your bag with this fabric. If a back stain appears on the fabric: congratulations, your ring is truly silver. Otherwise, we regret to inform you that your ring probably isn’t worth much.
Asking experts
Of course, a sure method to know the value of your silver ring is to ask experts, like jewelers. Thanks to their know-how and the tools they have in their shop, they can precisely determine the composition of your ring, the amount of silver it contains, its weight, and thus its value.
