Platinum
Platinum’s naturally white sheen will never fade or change color and accentuates the sparkle and brilliance of a diamond. Platinum is the strongest of the jewelry metals. Its density makes it the most secure setting for your diamond or gemstone. Because platinum is a naturally white metal, re-plating is unnecessary; it will always hold its beauty. Platinum jewelry is very rare; in fact, 30 times more so than gold. Platinum markings are stamped as 900 and 950.
Platinum can incur a scratch and develop a patina of wear. The patina is considered by many to be a unique and often desirable attribute. However, the pre-patina shine and reflective luster can easily be revived by merely buffing it with a soft cloth.
Gold
Gold has an extraordinary heritage with unique qualities. As an enduring element found naturally in a distinct yellow color, gold is resistant to rust, tarnish, and corrosion. Although gold is very strong, it’s also the most malleable of all precious metals. Pure gold is too soft for everyday wear, so it is alloyed with a mixture of metals like silver, copper, nickel, and zinc to give it strength and durability. Karatage, denoted by a number followed by “k” indicates purity, or how much of the metal in a piece of jewelry is gold. Karatage is expressed in 24ths, making 24k gold, 100% gold. We craft our jewelry using both 18k and 14k gold.
- Yellow Gold – Natural gold and color-saturated alloys are what give yellow gold its rich shine. The alloys most commonly used, are copper with a red hue, and silver featuring a green hue. An expert mixture of copper, silver and pure gold gives this precious metal its signature warmth.
- White Gold – A silvery-white character is what makes white gold so appealing. In order to make the gold white, it is combined with metal alloys that are white in nature and plated with an extremely hard element called rhodium. Although strong, rhodium may wear away over time. Replating is a simple process that can be done to restore whiteness to your jewelry.
- Rose Gold – The beautiful pink hue of rose gold is created by using a copper alloy. Again, the overall percentages of metal alloys is the same for rose gold as it is for yellow or white, there is just a different mixture in what alloys are used.
Silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. Real 925 sterling silver jewelry consists of 92.5 percent pure silver and the rest in some kind of alloy, typically copper. This is much different from silver plated, where a layer of silver is placed over another metal or alloy and can be scraped off or tarnished easily. Rhodium plating, silver, and nickel When the plating wears off after a time, however, the nickel will be exposed, and cause an allergic reaction. Rhodium-plated silver should, in theory, be safe, but rhodium does not stick readily to silver. In order to get it to stick, another metal is used, and that metal is usually nickel.
