Silver of unknown origin
The use of silver of a European origin guarantees the absence of harmful and allergenic metal additives, which often appear in products imported from Asia, South America, or India, where quality standards are not as strict as in Europe.
These products are only hallmarked with a fineness of 925, but are not confirmed by the manufacturer's hallmark nor are subject to any additional control.Very often there are situations where jewelry is made of copper and is covered with galvanic silver or rhodium. It is later marked with the 925 hallmark, but unfortunately it does not contain silver. Oftentimes, a low price of a product is the first sign that the product does not meet basic standards or is not made of 925 silver.Allergies to silver and jewelry
Silver of unknown origin contains silver 925 g / 1000 g, the remaining 75 g / 1000 g contains unknown metal alloys, most often nickel. This metal is cheap and imitates the hard and smooth surface of silver, but causes allergies in about 20% of the population due to the nickel content. Allergies to pure silver are extremely rare. Dishonest manufacturers may mask the poor quality of silver by plating the product with a 999 silver or rhodium layer. After a short time, customers complain about allergies to “rhodium-plated silver” which actually contains nickel. Rings wear off the fastest and we hear about ring allergies, and when the ears swell, they tell us about an allergic reaction from earrings. The common problem is not an allergy to jewelry, but the nickel contained in cheap, unrefined silver.This type of dishonesty is often found even on large online sales platforms or with sellers from countries where European standards are not respected. This is why jewelry sold in Europe must have a hallmark stamped on it to determine its origin.