When discussing silver gold and metals in tribal jewellery, or any jewellery piece, perhaps the first point to make is that rarely is there just one pure metal. The metal is usually an alloy, which is a combination of several metals. For example, if the metal is silver this usually means it is made from a combination of silver with smaller amounts of copper and nickle. Generally, tribal jewellery is made with “white metal” which has a silver content that can vary massively. Rare collectible pieces can be valuable even when made from white metal with no silver content. However, generally the better quality pieces are made with a high silver content. This is often as high 80% silver, sometimes stamped as “800,” or as high or higher than 92.5% silver which is Sterling grade, (the Britsh standard), silver and is usually stamped “925”