Pure silver, aka fine silver, is as pure as you can get. Sterling silver is what's known as a metal alloy. This means that sterling silver is a combination of metals instead of just one single metal (like with pure silver, for example). 

Sterling silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% alloy. This 7.5% is usually made of copper or zinc. The addition of these other metals makes sterling silver significantly stronger and more durable.

Whenever you see something advertised as "silver-plated" it most often means that the piece itself is made of another metal, and there's simply a thin layer of sterling silver "plated" on top of the item.

All of our silver pieces are made with '925 Sterling Silver', never 'silver-plated'. They are hypoallergenic, tarnish-resistant, and made to last!