Quick answer: To tell if silver is real, hold a strong magnet to it — genuine silver won't stick. Then place an ice cube on top; real silver's exceptional heat conductivity melts it almost instantly. For confirmation, look for a hallmark like "925," "Sterling," or a BIS stamp (mandatory in India since 2021 for registered jewellers). These three checks alone rule out most fakes in under two minutes.
Still not sure? Run through all seven tests below. Some cost nothing. A couple need basic supplies you already have at home. And for high-value pieces — antique jewellery, silver bars, inherited silverware — the last method gives you a lab-grade answer in 30 seconds flat.
Why Fake Silver Is Such a Big Problem Right Now
Walk into any Sunday bazaar or scroll through a random Instagram jewellery page, and you'll find silver earrings at ₹150 a pair. Some of it is real. A lot of it is white metal, nickel alloy, or rhodium-plated brass dressed up to look like sterling.
Sterling silver (stamped 925) tracks the daily silver spot rate, and at current rates a 10-gram bracelet costs a jeweller several hundred rupees in metal alone — before making charges or profit. When a vendor is selling the same-sized piece for ₹350, the maths simply doesn't work. That's your first red flag. Check the day's silver rate before you buy anything; if the price is below the raw metal value, you already have your answer.
At Amaltaas, we work with handcrafted 92.5 sterling silver every day. The question we hear most often — from customers, from people who've just inherited a piece, from buyers who got stung at a craft fair — is always the same: "How do I know if this is real without damaging it?" These seven tests are our honest answer.
A Quick Note on Silver Types Before You Test
Not all silver is the same, and "not genuine" isn't always the same as "worthless." Here's what the stamps actually mean:
- 999 / Fine Silver — 99.9% pure silver. Too soft for most jewellery; used in bars and coins.
- 925 / Sterling Silver — 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper. The standard for jewellery worldwide.
- 800 / 900 — older European or coin silver grades; real silver, just lower purity.
- EPNS / EP / Silver Plate — electroplated nickel silver. The base is not silver. A thin silver wash on top.
- German Silver / Nickel Silver / White Metal / Tibetan Silver — contains zero actual silver. These are decorative names for nickel alloys.
That last category is what most fakes are made from. Now let's test for it.
Test 1: The Hallmark Check — Always Start Here
Flip the piece over. Use your phone's torch and camera zoom. Look on the inner band of a ring, the back of a pendant, the clasp of a necklace, or the underside of a bangle.
You're hunting for a tiny stamped mark. In India, genuine silver jewellery sold by a registered jeweller carries a BIS hallmark with four parts: the BIS logo (a small triangle), the purity grade (925 or 999), the assaying centre's code, and a six-digit HUID (Hallmarking Unique ID) — a code unique to that specific piece. You can type that HUID into the BIS Care app (free on Android and iOS) and verify the piece instantly.
Outside India or on older pieces, look for: 925, Sterling, Ster, 800, 900, or a Lion Passant (UK hallmark — a small walking lion). Any of these indicate real silver.
Stamps that mean it's NOT silver: EPNS, EP, Silver Plate, GS (German Silver), NS (Nickel Silver), or no stamp at all on a piece sold as new.
One honest caveat: Stamps can be faked. A ₹400 piece from a random online seller can carry a 925 stamp and still fail every other test below. So treat the hallmark as a starting point, never a final answer on its own.
Test 2: The Magnet Test — Free and Takes 10 Seconds
Pick up a strong neodymium magnet — the type that comes in hobby magnet kits or inside old hard drives. A standard fridge magnet is too weak; it won't give you a clear result.
Hold it close to the main body of the piece. Watch what happens.
- No attraction at all, or slides away → passes this test. Silver is paramagnetic — it has no meaningful reaction to magnets.
- Snaps to the magnet firmly → iron or steel core. Not silver, full stop.
- Slight pull on the clasp or pin-back → ignore it. Clasps and fittings are often stainless steel even on genuine silver jewellery. Test the main body, not the hardware.
What this test can't catch: Copper and brass are also non-magnetic. So passing the magnet test means it's not iron-based — it doesn't confirm it's silver. You need one more test alongside this one.
Test 3: The Ice Cube Test — The One That Always Surprises People
Silver has the highest thermal conductivity of any metal. Higher than copper. Higher than gold. Higher than aluminium. That one fact is what makes this test work.
Set the piece flat on a table at room temperature. Place a single ice cube directly on top. Then watch.
On real silver, the ice starts melting within seconds. Not slowly — visibly, quickly, the bottom of the cube starts weeping water almost as soon as it makes contact.
On a fake, the ice just sits there, melting at the same lazy pace it would on a kitchen counter.
This test works brilliantly on flat pieces: kadas, bangles and cuff bracelets, silver plates, coins, bars. It's less reliable on delicate chains where the surface contact is too small to conduct meaningfully. If you want a control, put the same-sized ice cube on a ceramic tile first — then on the silver. The difference is impossible to miss.
Test 4: The Cloth and Tarnish Test — What the Oxidation Tells You
Take a clean white cotton cloth. An old kurta works perfectly. Rub it firmly against the silver piece for 10–15 seconds with real pressure.
- Black or dark grey marks on the cloth = silver oxide. That's what tarnish is: silver reacting with sulphur compounds in the air. It's a property of genuine sterling silver, and rubbing accelerates the reaction.
- No marks, or faint yellow-brown smearing = base metal or worn-through plating. Copper and brass tarnish differently. Nickel alloys barely react at all.
Real silver tarnishes. That's not a flaw — it's proof. It's also why your grandmother's silver katori turned dark over the years, and why a quick polish brings it straight back. The same is true of pieces you wear daily, like an evil eye pendant or nazar charm — a little darkening at the edges is the metal telling you it's genuine. Fakes don't behave the same way.
Test 5: The Bleach Test — Fast, Dramatic, Slightly Risky
Dip a cotton swab in ordinary household bleach (the kind you'd use to clean drains). Dab one small drop on an inconspicuous spot — the inner face of a bangle, the back of a pendant, somewhere hidden.
Real silver turns black almost immediately. That's silver chloride forming, and the reaction is genuinely fast. You'll see it happen in under ten seconds.
Fake metals either don't react, or they bubble and discolour a different way.
Do this immediately after: Rinse the spot thoroughly under running water and rub it with a soft cloth. Bleach will permanently pit the surface if you leave it on. And avoid using this test on antique or engraved pieces where the finish is part of the value — the bleach doesn't care about craftsmanship.
Test 6: The Acid Test — The One Serious Buyers Use
Pick up a silver testing acid kit from any jewellery supply shop or Amazon India. They run ₹300–₹600 and last for dozens of tests. Brands like Rasmussen are commonly used by dealers and you'll find them easily.
The kit contains nitric acid in a controlled solution, a small testing stone, and instructions. Here's how it works:
- Make a tiny scratch on the back of the piece — somewhere hidden.
- Rub that scratch against the testing stone to leave a faint streak.
- Apply one small drop of the testing acid to the streak.
- Watch the colour.
- Bright red or creamy → sterling silver (925) ✅
- Dark red → fine silver (999) ✅
- Brown or faint yellow → lower-grade silver alloy. Possibly real, just impure.
- Green → base metal, no silver ❌
This is what jewellery dealers use before paying serious money for a piece. The scratch is tiny and on the back — effectively invisible on most jewellery. If you're buying raw silver stock, unmarked pieces at auction, or anything where ₹5,000–₹20,000 is at stake, this test is worth every rupee the kit costs.
Test 7: XRF Professional Testing — The Definitive Answer
XRF stands for X-ray fluorescence. A handheld XRF analyser fires a beam of X-rays at the metal and reads the reflected signal to tell you the exact elemental composition — silver percentage, copper content, trace metals — non-destructively, in about 30 seconds.
Not "probably silver." Not "likely 925." The device tells you it's 92.3% silver, 7.4% copper, 0.3% trace — or it tells you you've got 94% nickel and someone's had a laugh at your expense.
Most established jewellers and BIS hallmarking centres in India have one. There are over 1,400 BIS-registered assaying centres across the country, listed on the official BIS website. The test runs ₹200–₹500 per item, sometimes free if you're buying or selling at that shop.
Use it whenever you're purchasing a silver bar, considering a bulk lot at an estate sale, or verifying inherited silverware before you sell it. Every other test gives you a confident "probably." XRF removes the probably entirely.
How to Read the Tests Together
Run two or three tests together and the picture gets very clear very fast:
| Combination of Results | What It Means |
|---|---|
| BIS stamp ✅ + non-magnetic ✅ + ice melts fast ✅ | Almost certainly genuine 925 sterling silver |
| Has a 925 stamp but sticks to magnet | Stamp is fake — plated piece with iron core |
| No stamp, passes magnet + ice, black marks on cloth | Likely genuine — get acid or XRF confirmation |
| No stamp, no ice reaction, no cloth marks | Base metal — not silver |
| Passes bleach + acid test, no stamp | Probably genuine — consider getting BIS hallmarked |
No single test should be used in isolation. Use at least two, and trust the pattern, not any one result.
Silver You Shouldn't Have to Test
Every test on this page exists because someone, somewhere, wasn't told the truth about what they were buying. That's a problem of disclosure, not chemistry.
Our 92.5 sterling silver collection is handcrafted at our Jaipur workshop, and every piece states its metal, weight and finish on the product page before you add it to your cart. Our 92.5 silver rakhis are made the same way — because a rakhi that turns your brother's wrist green rather defeats the purpose.
If you're not sure where to begin, our bestselling pieces are the ones customers come back for — and the ones we'd hand you first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does real silver turn your skin green?
Pure or sterling silver very rarely does. Green skin is almost always caused by copper, brass, or nickel in a base metal alloy. Sterling silver has 7.5% copper, so people with very sensitive skin occasionally see light discolouration — but a strong green reaction is a reliable sign the piece isn't genuine silver.
Can I test silver with vinegar?
Vinegar is sometimes suggested online, but it's not reliable. Real silver can show a slight reaction; so can some base metals. Stick to the bleach test or an acid kit for a chemical test — they give a clear, interpretable colour change. Vinegar gives you a maybe.
Does real silver tarnish?
Yes, and that's a good sign. Sterling silver reacts with sulphur in the air to form silver sulphide — the dark, yellowish-to-black layer we call tarnish. It means the metal is real. Most fakes either don't tarnish this way or show orange or green corrosion instead. A regular polish with a silver cloth keeps genuine sterling bright.
What's the difference between silver and silver-plated?
Silver-plated items have a thin silver coating over a base metal — usually brass or copper. Look for stamps like EPNS, EP, or "Silver Plate." Check high-wear areas such as edges and clasps where the plating wears through and the base metal shows. Solid silver is uniform all the way through; plated pieces aren't.
How accurate is the ice test?
Very accurate on solid pieces with decent surface area. Less useful on thin chains or very small items. Its strength is that it's zero-risk and gives an immediate result. Always combine it with a hallmark check or magnet test for a confident reading.
Does real silver stick to a magnet?
No. Silver is not magnetic. If a piece strongly attracts a neodymium magnet, it contains iron or steel and is not genuine silver. Test the main body of the piece, not the clasp or fittings, which are often stainless steel even on genuine silver jewellery.
What does 925 mean on silver jewellery?
It means the piece is sterling silver: 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper. The copper adds durability because pure silver (999) is too soft for everyday jewellery. 925 is the internationally recognised standard for sterling silver, and it's the hallmark to look for when buying silver jewellery in India.
Where do I find a BIS hallmarking centre near me?
The BIS website (bis.gov.in) has a searchable directory of all registered assaying and hallmarking centres across India. There are over 1,400 of them. Hallmarking charges are set by BIS on a per-article basis and are modest — confirm the current rate with the centre before you go. You can also verify a HUID code for free on the BIS Care app.
