Essential notes on precious metals
* Gold
* Platinum
* Silver
GOLD
Throughout history, gold's mesmerizing beauty has inspired legends. Today, it is the premium choices of jewelry artisans worldwide for its ability to be molded into many luxurious designs.
aurGold is extracted by mining and in the old times it was even found in the mountain rivers, usually nearby the current gold mines, as sand part of it being extracted by a very exhausting process of metallic nets filtering using water as fluid driver. Sometimes the natural gold forms are so beautiful that even the best jeweler molder can not reproduce the Mother Nature given shape. Annually are nowadays extracted around 1,500 tones of gold. Naturally yellow in color, gold will not tarnish. While it is strong, gold in its purest form is too soft for most jewelry uses and must be mixed-or alloyed-with other metals to increase its strength and durability.
Gold's purity is measured in karats which are used to indicate the percentage of gold. Pure, one hundred percent gold is 24 karat and is more expensive but not as durable as 18 karat (75 percent gold) or 14 karat (58.3 percent gold). When comparing gold jewelry, the higher the number of karats, the greater the value.
Karat weight is a key factor in determining price, along with the set stones values, if any are set in, design and the degree of craftsmanship required to create a beautiful piece of jewelry.
By law, anything less than 10 karats cannot be sold as gold in the United States. The law also states that the karat mark and manufacturer's trademark must appear on the jewelry. In Romania by law the gold marking rule is either the ANPC "miner" mark or the producer mark. 585 or 750 marks are not legally imposed.
In Europe the best sold and common gold is the 18 karats one, while in the United States, 14 karat is the most common gold jewelry sold.
Adorri® is one of the fewest Romanian jewelry stores that offers 18 karat gold jewelries exclusively, obtained from a single molding, being excluded some common market practices of the "in exchange offered" gold, which diminish the highest gold purity by using different types of gold.
The color of gold is affected by the concentration of alloys such as nickel or copper. A high concentration of nickel creates white gold, while rose gold, often called also as red gold, gets it color from a high percentage of copper.
Is very important to note that never mind the gold color the price per gram should not change, being not justified an increased price for a given color gold of the same karats.
YELLOW GOLD
aur galbenThe most common form of gold used, yellow gold is created with an alloy of silver, copper and zinc mixed with gold. The resulting yellow color reflects the natural color of the gold. Yellow and white gold are similar in strength and durability. It is the karat weight and design, not the color that determines the price.
The yellow gold, highlights by its natural color any jewelry setting with any precious stones.
WHITE GOLD
aur albWhite gold is created by an alloy of nickel and other metals (copper and zinc) mixed with gold. Nickel is the largest component of this alloy, giving the gold a white color.
White gold can also be made with an alloy that contains a higher concentration of silver, making it a good choice for people with sensitivity to nickel.
White gold is highly reflective and does not tarnish so it is common to add a layer of plating called "rhodium" plating that will protect the reflective quality of the white metal. This does not detract from the value of the metal.
aur albWhile yellow and white gold are similar in strength and durability, it is karat weight and design, not the color that affects the price.
White gold is often set in jewels with colorless, or near colorless diamonds, because it enhances the diamonds brilliance. Often setting with blue sapphires is common. Also the two-color gold settings are quite used, together with yellow gold in marvelous design models and precious stones.
White gold is the precious alternative for the ones that does not prefer silver, but prefer this color jewelry instead.
ROSE GOLD
aur rozRose gold is alloyed with copper, and sometimes silver. The resulting gold has a reddish-rose hue.
Rose gold is often used in the manufacture of three-color jewelry consisting of yellow, white and rose gold together. Rose gold, as well as the yellow gold, highlights very well the settings with emeralds, or with the fancy sapphires and rubies.
The sky is the limit for the gold colors combinations and different precious stones colors and jewelries designs, giving infinite choices to both the jewelries manufacturers and customers.
