Does 925 sterling silver react with skin or turn it green?

Short answer: a green mark under a silver ring is almost always the copper in the alloy reacting with sweat, cosmetics or chlorine. It washes off the skin and off the metal. That is a surface reaction, not an allergy. A genuine metal allergy is usually to nickel, and if you react to metals you should ask us about a specific piece before ordering rather than assume.

What 925 actually means

Pure silver is too soft to hold a shape in a ring, so it is alloyed. "925" means 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metal — in standard sterling that remainder is copper. The stamp is a statement about the silver content, nothing more; it does not describe the other 7.5% in detail.

Why skin sometimes goes green or grey

Copper reacts with acids. Sweat is mildly acidic, and so are many hand creams, perfumes, cleaning products and chlorinated pool water. The reaction leaves copper salts, which are green, on whatever they touch — usually a ring-shaped mark on the finger. It is harmless and it washes off with soap and water. Some people never see it; some see it only in summer, or only on one finger. Body chemistry genuinely differs.

A grey or black mark is a different reaction: silver meeting sulphur in the air, which is the same tarnish that dulls a ring over months.

Reducing it

Take rings off before swimming, cleaning, or applying hand cream, and dry your hands before putting them back on. Keep the piece clean — a soft cloth, and warm water with a little mild soap for anything with a gap that traps residue. Storing silver in a closed bag or box slows tarnish, because it slows the air getting to it.

If you actually react to metals

Redness, itching or a rash that keeps coming back in the same place is not the copper mark described above and is worth taking seriously. Nickel is the most common cause of contact allergy to jewellery, and it is found most often in plated costume pieces rather than in sterling. We are not in a position to diagnose anything, and we do not describe our work as hypoallergenic. If you know you react to a metal, write to us about the specific piece you are looking at and we will tell you what it is made of before you order.

What we make

Everything in the workshop is 925 sterling silver, cut and finished by hand in Istanbul. Some pieces are oxidised, which is a deliberate surface darkening rather than an added metal. You can read what the stamp means in more detail in what 925 sterling silver means, or browse the rings collection.

Pieces from our collection related to this guide