Purest Form of Silver 999 Carat (also known as Fine Silver) is made of 99.9% pure silver and less than 0.1% other ingredients. However, 925 Carat (also known as Sterling Silver) is made of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other ingredients. Therefore, if you are looking to get your nursing nipple shields in the purest silver form, 999-carat (also known as Pure Silver) is the closest you can get to silver in its purest form. It is critically important to note that if you have sensitive skin, using 925-carat nursing cups may lead to irritations, rashes, and itchy skin due to the high percentage of such ingredients used to make up the 7.5%. | Tarnishing Time While all silver will eventually tarnish, 999-carat silver is known for its minimal tarnish rate. The downside to 925-carat silver, known as sterling silver, is that the added copper will cause it to tarnish, especially in humid conditions. Therefore, 925-carat silver tarnishes quicker due to the 7.5% use of other ingredients. If you plan to use your silver nursing cups for a longer time, you may want to consider buying 999-carat pure silver nursing shields. | Extra Softness for Your Skin Softness is an essential factor for skincare, especially for your damaged nursing nipples. Even wearing your bra can become painful for your nipples as you continue to breastfeed, so you wouldn't want to cause additional irritation or pain due to the harder material of 925-carat silver touching your already irritated skin. You would want to treat your nipples with the purest silver form, 999-carat (fine silver), which is much softer compared to the harder material of 925-carat silver (sterling silver). If you don't want to risk causing additional irritation on your nipples, you may want to consider buying 999-carat pure silver nipple cups to get the softest care for your skin. | Craftsmanship Making 999-carat, aka fine silver, nursing cups costs more. Brands started using 925-carat sterling silver for their nursing cups because a piece can be made thinner than if it was made of 999-carat. The thinner the piece, the less silver it has and that means more profit for brands, who are making their nursing shields from 925-carat silver. On top of the cost of using 999-carat pure silver, shaping the 999-carat pure silver into the desired form requires highly talented craftsmanship, and that is another factor of 999-carat pure silver is being rare. If you are looking for the most natural care for your breastfeeding nipples, you may want to consider buying 999-carat pure silver nipple shields to give yourself the natural skincare that you deserve |