Silver, guarantee and fineness

Every single silver article must have a Certificate of Guarantee as proof of authenticity.  Silver cannot be produced or sold without a special licence issued by the Italian State who imposes the producer's identification stamp, carried in sequence, on every article:

A five-point star, the serial number of the company and the initials of the province where the company is resident.

Furthermore, the article must have a stamp representing the legal fineness and identifying the quantity of pure silver fused with copper.  The fineness, contained in oval forms, indicate:

800, the alloy is composed of 800 parts of pure silver and 200 parts of copper

925, the alloy is composed of 925 parts of pure silver and 75 parts of copper

Pure silver - 1000 - is not suitable to give sufficient consistency to the product.

According to Italian law, articles that do not carry these stamps cannot be considered "silverware"

Therefore, as far as silver is concerned, the utmost transparency from the producer and the dealer is a must that the consumer has a right to demand.