Pure silver pulled from the earth is too soft for jewelry making, so it is alloyed (mixed) with other metals to make it workable. While a bar of silver (also called fine silver) would be stamped ".999 pure" to indicate it's metallurgical content, the purest form of the metal used in design work is called sterling, and is stamped, by international agreement, as "sterling silver" or ".925" indicating that it is 92.5% pure silver, with alloy metals comprising 7.5% of the composition. Look at the back of the finest quality silver accessories to find the words "Sterling" and/or the ".925" mark.

Commonly used in western silver, silver overlay is made by mechanically bonding a layer of sterling silver over a thicker base metal, usually nickel. This process creates a metal with the visible properties and qualities of sterling—lustrous, engravable, acquires a fine patina (minuscule scratches that add to the jewelry's character)—at a lower price than solid sterling. Silver overlay should be thick enough to allow the silversmith to make all of his engraving cuts in the sterling silver layer without cutting through to the base metal below.

Also called nickel silver, this common alloy contains copper, zinc, and nickel—but no silver. Also sold under manufacturer's trade names, this material is very hard and must be machined.

Some jewelry manufacturers very successfully utilize their own 'secret recipe' metal alloys. Know what you are buying: if there is no precious metal in the alloy, realize that you’re not buying(or paying for) real silver. Several jewelry companies use their own special alloys to make inexpensive and well-designed buckles and jewelry that you’ll find in western stores, so if you like the item buy it, but know that it’s an adornment, not an investment.

Silver plating is the least expensive method of utilizing silver in decorative work. To silver plate, a base metal is electrostatically charged so that a very thin layer of silver adheres to the base. The silver us usually applied as a liquid and is at least 7 millionths of an inch thick—which ain't very much silver. Silver plate cannot be hand engraved, but is often applied over design cuts made in the base metal.

Like pure silver, solid gold is too soft to use in jewelry- though it looks great in a heavy bar hidden under your bed. For artistic use, gold must be alloyed to make it more workable. Pure gold is denoted as 24 karat, while the alloys are named for their pure gold content: 14 karat gold (commonly used in premium western jewelry) is 14 parts gold and 10 parts other metals.

For the look of precious karat gold at a more economical price, many jewelers choose gold fill. Like sterling overlay, gold fill consists of a thin layer of alloyed gold (10 kt for instance) bonded over a layer of base metal. It looks like gold, it acts like gold, but it costs less than pure karat gold. Gold fill is denoted as a fraction of the total metal weight: "1/10 10 kt G.F. " indicates the material is 10% 10 karat gold.

Like silver plate, gold plate is a very thin veneer of gold that is applied over a base metal. It cannot be hand engraved, and often disappears at points of wear.