Why 925 Silver

A Short Education

The honest metal, explained

Five minutes of reading, a lifetime of buying silver with your eyes open. What 925 means, how to read a hallmark, and why real sterling behaves the way it does.

Silver necklace macro

Lesson One

92.5 parts silver, 7.5 parts strength

Pure silver is too soft to hold a shape — a ring of it would bend in a handshake. Sterling is the centuries-old answer: 92.5% fine silver alloyed with 7.5% copper. The silver gives the light; the copper gives the spine.

The number 925 is simply that recipe, stamped into the metal. Anything less is not sterling. Anything unmarked is a question you deserve answered.

92.5% silver7.5% strength

Lesson Two

Three marks, no mystery

  • The BIS mark

    The Bureau of Indian Standards triangle — the government's own seal.

  • The purity grade

    925 struck into the metal — 92.5% fine silver, verified by assay, not by promise.

  • The maker's ID

    The assay centre and jeweller codes — ours is printed on every authenticity card.

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Indora editorial — jewellery styling

Lesson Three

Kind to skin, by composition

Most jewellery reactions are not to silver — they are to nickel, the cheap stiffener in imitation metal. Sterling needs no nickel: its 7.5% is copper, and our plating baths are certified nickel-safe.

If your ears have "rejected" jewellery before, they were likely never given real silver. Sensitive skin is not the problem. The metal was.

Lesson Four

Real silver breathes — and darkens

Tarnish is not a defect; it is chemistry. Silver meets sulphur in the air and slowly deepens — proof, in fact, that the metal is real. Imitations don't tarnish; they peel.

Indora slows the chemistry two ways: an anti-tarnish coat sealed over every finished piece, and plating thick enough to be measured, not marketed. When darkening eventually comes — years, not months — a soft cloth returns the light. Our oxidised pieces flip the logic: there, the darkness is the design, deliberate and sealed.

  • Bare sterling

    Darkens slowly with air. Polishes back in one minute.

  • The Indora finish

    Anti-tarnish coat + measured plating. Years before first dimming.

  • The oxidised range

    Darkness by design — patinated, then sealed to stay.

    See the oxidised collection 
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Indora editorial — necklace on model

Lesson Five · Durability

Built for decades, serviced for free

Sterling is why silver heirlooms exist — it holds solder, survives resizing, and takes a new polish at any age. Every Indora piece carries a 6-month warranty and one complimentary re-polish. Bring it back; we'd rather service a piece than sell you its replacement.

Indora editorial — earrings detail

Lesson Six · Sourcing

Silver with a paper trail

Our silver is bought as certified recycled and assay-verified grain from BIS-registered refiners — melted, not mined, wherever possible. Stones are lab-grown cubic zirconia by default: honest sparkle, no ambiguous origins. The paper trail exists for every batch; ask us and we will show you.

Lesson Seven

Four small rituals

  • i. Wear it often

    Skin's natural oils keep silver bright. The worst place for silver is a drawer.

  • ii. Last on, first off

    Perfume, then dress, then jewellery. Reverse it at night.

  • iii. Rest it in the pouch

    The Indora pouch is anti-tarnish lined. Between wears, let the piece sleep there.

  • iv. A minute a month

    The soft cloth in your box is all it needs. No pastes, no dips, no toothbrushes.

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Now you know what to look for. Come look.

Shop hallmarked 925