925 Sterling Silver Electroplated

Jewellery (SSEP)

The earliest form of Silver plating was Sheffield plate, where thin sheets of Silver were fused (heated/melted) to a layer, or core of base metal of Copper. Since about 1840 it was generally replaced with a better process called electroplating, which involves passing an electric current through a solution called an electrolyte. Electroplated silverware is not 'Sterling Silver' which is a whole metal made up of 92.5% Silver and 7.5% other metals, although the electroplating process may use Sterling Silver as the coating.

Electroplating tends to produce a "brilliant" surface with a hard colour,  925 Silver Electroplated Jewellery composes of a robust base metal such as Zinc Alloy or Copper which is then electroplated with 92.5% Sterling Silver.