Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Truth About Gold Jewelry

Without a doubt, Gold is one of the world’s most precious metals. It is also a certainty that gold enjoys an unsurpassed popularity as a medium for jewelry expression. Both jewelry artisans and consumers alike are "in love" with gold. There seems to be no end to the range of colors, finishes and styles available and gold remains a perennial favorite setting for gemstones.

Gold can last forever, will not corrode or rust and can be found anywhere. Gold exists in plants, rivers, oceans, mountains, it’s nearly everywhere but it is extremely difficult and costly to extract this amazing metal. Did you know that a single ounce of gold can be pulled into a thin wire that stretches nearly five miles long? An artisans hammer can work that same ounce into a very thin sheet that can cover a 10ft x 10ft(100sq. ft.) area. Also, it takes nearly 3 tons of gold or to extract a single ounce of pure gold. Well if you didn’t now you know!

Gold Basics

The word Gold, used by itself, means all gold or 24 karat (24K) gold. Because 24K gold is soft, it’s usually mixed with other metals to increase its hardness and durability. If a piece of jewelry is not 24 karat gold, the karat quality should accompany any claim that the item is gold.

The karat quality marking tells you what proportion of gold is mixed with the other metals. Fourteen karat (14K) jewelry contains 14 parts of gold, mixed in throughout with 10 parts of base metal. The higher the karat rating, the higher the proportion of gold in the piece of jewelry.

Most jewelry is marked with its karat quality, although marking is not required by law. Near the karat quality mark, you should see the name of the U.S. registered trademark of the company that will stand behind the mark. The trademark may be in the form of a name, symbol or initials. If you don’t see a trademark accompanying a quality mark on a piece of jewelry, look for another piece.

Solid gold refers to an item made of any karat gold, if the inside of the item is not hollow. The proportion of gold in the piece of jewelry still is determined by the karat mark.

Jewelry can be plated with gold in a variety of ways. Gold plate refers to items that are either mechanically plated, electroplated, or plated by any other means with gold to a base metal. Eventually, gold plating wears away, but how soon will depend on how often the item is worn and how thick the plating is.

Gold-filled, gold overlay and rolled gold plate are terms used to describe jewelry that has a layer of at least 10 karat gold mechanically bonded to a base metal. If the jewelry is marked with one of these terms, the term or abbreviation should follow the karat quality of the gold used (for example, 14K Gold Overlay or 12K RGP). If the layer of karat gold is less than 1/20th of the total weight of the item, any marking must state the actual percentage of karat gold, such as 1/40 14K Gold Overlay.

Gold electroplate describes jewelry that has a layer (at least .175 microns thick) of a minimum of 10 karat gold deposited on a base metal by an electrolytic process. The terms gold flashed or gold washed describe products that have an extremely thin electroplating of gold (less than .175 microns thick). This will wear away more quickly than gold plate, gold-filled or gold electroplate.

Vermeil (ver-may), a special type of gold plated product, consists of a base of sterling silver that is coated or plated with gold.

By Sam Serio

Thursday, July 3, 2008

White Gold

White Gold began gaining popularity in the early 1900’s as an alternative to platinum. Platinum was steadily becoming more fashionable, but because of its rarity many could not afford it. Then, during World War II the government put a ban on the use of Platinum for any non-military functions and the demand for White Gold skyrocketed.

The most common alloys added to gold to produce white gold are nickel, palladium and silver. Most white gold jewelry is also given an electroplated rhodium coating to intensify brightness.

Throughout this process, white gold retains many of the benefits of gold. It won’t tarnish and due to the metals added, it is stronger than its yellow counterpart.

Recently, palladium has replaced nickel as the common alloy in white gold. It seems that a small percent of the population-approximately 12-15%-has an allergic reaction to nickel causing skin irritation and rashes. It is now required by law that jewelry pieces containing nickel be labeled “nickel-containing.”

By Sarah Cobler
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