About Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag (Greek: άργυρος árguros, Latin: argentum, both from the Indo-European root *arg- for “grey” or “shining”) and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it possesses the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal. The metal occurs naturally in its pure, free form (native silver), as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining.

The word Silver is derived from the Anglo Saxon word Seolfor.

Sterling Silver

Because pure silver, also called fine silver, is relatively soft, very malleable, and easily damaged it is commonly combined with other metals to produce a more durable product. The most popular of these alloys is sterling, which consists of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper.

Although any metal can make up the 7.5 percent non-silver portion of sterling, centuries of experimentation have shown copper to be its best companion, improving the metal’s hardness and durability without affecting its beautiful colour.

The small amount of copper added to sterling has very little effect on the metal’s value. Instead, the price of the silver item is affected by the labour involved in making the item, the skill of the craftsperson, and the intricacy of the design.

Foster Barry Silver

Our Silver cufflinks are made from sterling silver produced by a traditional Birmingham silversmith that been established for over a hundred years.

To get a better understanding of how the Birmingham sliver hallmark system works please follow this link: https://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/

Foster Barry has its own ‘Mark’ (FB), which appears as part of the full hallmarking stamped on all our sterling silver products. This guarantees the provenance of your product.