Jewelry Gold and Diamonds - Some Facts About It

People have always adorned themselves with jewelry. From the beginning of recorded time people placed value on certain rocks and minerals, based on how scarce and hard they were to come by, as well as how beautiful they looked.

Jewelry gold and diamonds. Whenever one thinks of jewelry, one usually thinks of gold and diamonds, although of course silver and platinum are also popular metals with which to make jewelry, and along with diamonds there are rubies and emeralds. Diamonds, rubies and emeralds are "precious stones," pearls, also popular, are of course not stones but formed in the shells of various mollusk - as for example the oyster.

But jewelry (gold, diamond, and the like) rules the roost.

The price of gold is really going through the roof right now, although that is not quite as disastrous a fact for the jewelry market as it may be, as gold jewelry is not make from pure gold (24 karat gold) anyway. It can't be - pure gold is too soft and easily bendable. Instead, a percentage of copper is mixed into the gold to create an alloy. 22 karat gold is the most pure gold that can be worked into jewelry, but 10 karat gold jewelry is probably the most common, and of course it still looks beautiful.

Diamonds are a fascinating subject. When diamonds come out of the mines, they look nothing like the diamond you see on a ring or in an earring. Instead, the diamond has to be cut, to reveal its inner brilliance. Most diamonds originate in South Africa and Australia, with much smaller deposits found in only a few other places in the world.

Once the diamonds are removed from the earth, however, they are then sent to Antwerp, where they are cut, ready to be made into jewelry. Interestingly, 80% of the world's diamonds are sold in New York and the rest of the United States.

Gold, Silver And Platinum - They're Not Called 'Precious' Metals For Nothing

When it comes to jewellery, the three most precious metals are silver, gold and platinum - in that particular order. As a soft metal, silver needs to be alloyed with other metals before being made into jewellery, in order to make the metal stronger and more resistant. This small copper content means that silver jewellery is likely to tarnish, so if you're thinking about buying a sterling silver ring or bracelet, it's important to make sure you clean in properly. Further, to make sure the silver jewellery you've bought is high quality, ensure that it's been stamped with a purity mark (like 925) before you buy.

As with silver, gold is a soft metal and so also has to be alloyed with other metals to make it hard enough for jewellery making. Pure gold, for example is yellow, while white gold is gold that has been alloyed with nickel, copper and zinc, and can sometimes look similar to platinum. Generally speaking, platinum jewellery is 90% pure platinum and 10% iridium or palladium alloy. Moreover, jewellery that contains more than 95 per cent pure platinum is marked 'platinum' (950 plat or 950pt), whereas 85 percent pure platinum will be marked 850plat or 850pt. Platinum jewellery is rapidly gaining popularity and other related metals - like palladium and titanium - are, as a result being used with increasing frequency in jewellery-making. 

The Differences Between Gold, Silver, and Platinum Jewelry

Gold is the most popular option for fine jewelry. Karatage is expressed in 24ths, making 24k gold 100% gold. Yellow gold is richer in 18k gold compared to 10k gold. With white gold, the color usually is enhanced using rhodium, a hard and durable plating. Rose gold is mixed with copper which gives it the beautiful pink color.

When properly cared for, gold jewelry can last a lifetime. Gold jewelry should be stored separate from other pieces to avoid scratching. Removing jewelry pieces before strenuous activity can help prevent scratching. Gold can be cleaned with commercial jewelry cleaning products. A soft gold polishing cloth can be used for polishing.

Pure silver, also called fine silver, is soft and easily damaged so it is usually combined with other metals in order to be durable enough for jewelry. The most popular of these alloys is sterling silver, which consists of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper. Sterling silver is a good choice for jewelry because of its durability and beauty. Sterling silver can be marked with words such as sterling, sterling silver, ster, or.925 to show the quality

With proper care, your fine quality silver will last a lifetime. Silver jewelry should be stored in a cloth pouch or separate compartment in your jewelry box to minimize scratches and other damage. Regular cleanings will keep your silver bright and shiny.

Platinum jewelry is most appealing because of its strength and durability. Other metals can wear down over time, but not platinum. It is the strongest of jewelry metals. Most fine jewelry made with platinum is 95% pure platinum with 5% other alloys.

Platinum jewelry is easy to care for. It will need less maintenance than gold or silver due to its durability.

The Differences Between Gold, Silver, and Platinum Jewelry

Gold is the most popular option for fine jewelry. Karatage is expressed in 24ths, making 24k gold 100% gold. Yellow gold is richer in 18k gold compared to 10k gold. With white gold, the color usually is enhanced using rhodium, a hard and durable plating. Rose gold is mixed with copper which gives it the beautiful pink color.

When properly cared for, gold jewelry can last a lifetime. Gold jewelry should be stored separate from other pieces to avoid scratching. Removing jewelry pieces before strenuous activity can help prevent scratching. Gold can be cleaned with commercial jewelry cleaning products. A soft gold polishing cloth can be used for polishing.

Pure silver, also called fine silver, is soft and easily damaged so it is usually combined with other metals in order to be durable enough for jewelry. The most popular of these alloys is sterling silver, which consists of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper. Sterling silver is a good choice for jewelry because of its durability and beauty. Sterling silver can be marked with words such as sterling, sterling silver, ster, or.925 to show the quality

With proper care, your fine quality silver will last a lifetime. Silver jewelry should be stored in a cloth pouch or separate compartment in your jewelry box to minimize scratches and other damage. Regular cleanings will keep your silver bright and shiny.

Platinum jewelry is most appealing because of its strength and durability. Other metals can wear down over time, but not platinum. It is the strongest of jewelry metals. Most fine jewelry made with platinum is 95% pure platinum with 5% other alloys.

Platinum jewelry is easy to care for. It will need less maintenance than gold or silver due to its durability.

Why Mens Beaded Bracelets Make Awesome Gifts

Any woman who has been in a serious relationship with a man will tell you just how difficult it can be to buy a man a great gift. We all want to be remembered for giving great gifts, especially to the important man in our lives.

If you are looking for a great gift, you can't go wrong with mens beaded bracelets. Here's why mens beaded bracelets make awesome gifts:

1) Bracelets are a great addition to your overall look: Bracelets are such an understated way to accessorize a look. There's no need for a real man to wear flashy jewelry to prove how manly he is. Nothing says relaxed but stylish quite like a mens beaded bracelet. 2) The variety of bracelets available is astounding: There is a huge range of bracelets available today. From the imposing, to the delightful, mens bracelets come in every imaginable design, shape and material.

A handmade mens beaded bracelet is one if the most thoughtful gifts you can buy for a man. 4) Make a grand gesture, or a small one: Bracelets make great gifts for the men in your life, whether it's your husband, boyfriend, brother or father, a simple beaded bracelet or an extravagant high quality bracelet. You can easily find cheap bracelets that are great for a modest budget, or you can splurge on some of the top of the range designer bracelets. 5) Everyone can appreciate a beaded bracelet: No matter what age or size or style, any man will appreciate a beaded bracelet as a gift.

There's no doubt about it, beaded bracelets make great gifts. 

Earrings From Antiquity to the Present - 2500 Years of Earrings by D Mascetti and A Triossi

Earrings From Antiquity to the Present: 2500 Years of Earrings (available in hard cover or paperback) presents a history of these important components of a woman's and man's appearance. The authors are specialists in the history and archeology of jewelry. Etruscans amassed great wealth and fashioned elaborate jewelry decorated with tiny sculptures of birds, rosettes, and chains with pearls. The elaborate headdresses, high collars, and complex hair styles of the Middle Ages left little room for earrings.

During the Renaissance women began to wear earrings again. The 18th and 19th Centuries show a myriad of earring designs, many of them wild and wonderful: dangles made to resemble a bushel basket full of (ruby) apples, onyx hens sitting on (ivory) eggs in a woven gold basket, carved faces of Greek gods, a 5-inch long earring set with kite-shaped aquamarines. Jane Shafrin has been conducting a love affair with jewelry since her childhood. She designs jewelry, collects and sells vintage jewelry, and her web site, Beads by Mail, contains pages full of information about gemstones, beads, how to make jewelry, and publishes free bead patterns. 

"I Can Only Wear Gold Jewelry" - The Truth About Jewelry Allergies

"I can only wear gold jewelry, everything else breaks me out." My mother, like many people, develops contact dermatitis when her skin comes in contact with some types of jewelry. The dermatitis is a result of an allergic reaction to the nickel found in many types of jewelry. Nickel allergies are very common. More women tend to suffer from nickel allergies than men. First I looked at gold jewelry. However white gold may. White gold alloys contain nickel and other "white" metals to produce its silver coloring. Gold filled jewelry metal is created when a base metal is coated with a layer of gold. Gold filled differs from gold plated by the amount of gold applied. The layer used in gold filled jewelry is typically 50 to 100 time thicker that the layer used to coat gold plated products.

Next I looked at silver jewelry. For those who are nickel sensitive, fine silver and sterling silver are great choices for "white" metals.

Fine silver is by definition 99.9% pure silver. Typically silver jewelry is made of sterling silver. Sterling silver is by definition 92.5% pure silver. Since copper is the normal metal used, sterling silver is a great metal for nickel allergic people. Some other metals that are considered safe for people with nickel allergies are:

Copper - Copper jewelry is generally considered pure and not mixed with nickel or nickel alloys.

Platinum - Platinum jewelry contains 95% platinum and 5% of a secondary metal typically iridium.

Titanium - Titanium jewelry is both hypoallergenic and durable. It is a highly recommended metal for those who suffer from nickel allergies.

Fashion or costume jewelry typically contains base metals that include nickel.

German silver or nickel silver is a metal to stay away from where jewelry is concerned. German silver does not contain any silver. The silver refers to the silver coloration of the metal. If you do buy a piece of jewelry and are concerned that it may contain nickel, commercial test kits are available online. April Williams is the owner of Eluna Jewelry Designs, widely known for an exquisite selection of gemstone pendants, sterling silver earrings, and reproduction sea glass jewelry. 

Gold Filled Jewellery - What is it All About?

Gold filled jewellery, also known as rolled-gold is made by binding the base metal that is usually a brass or copper, between two layers of gold. This jewellery is identified with the 'GF' marking, which is given to the jewellery when it satisfies a few basic requirements such as the outer gold should be a minimum of 10K; the outer gold should weigh 5% of the final item and should be permanently bound to the base material. Double-clad jewellery, which has half the thickness, is expensive when compared to the single-clad jewellery.

The different types of gold filled jewellery ranges from beads to necklaces, bracelets, bangles, ear and finger rings. There are different types of gold filled beads, which have the same appealing looks as that of the gold and some of them are corrugated beads, corrugated twist beads, stardust beads, sandblast beads, round smooth, rose color gold filled beads, donut spacer, faceted and rondelle gold filled beads.

Gold filled jewellery must be cleaned properly and frequently. People of today prefer to wear this filled jewellery to gold jewellery. For gold filled beads.

Gold, Silver And Platinum - They're Not Called 'Precious' Metals For Nothing

When it comes to jewellery, the three most precious metals are silver, gold and platinum - in that particular order. As a soft metal, silver needs to be alloyed with other metals before being made into jewellery, in order to make the metal stronger and more resistant. This small copper content means that silver jewellery is likely to tarnish, so if you're thinking about buying a sterling silver ring or bracelet, it's important to make sure you clean in properly. Further, to make sure the silver jewellery you've bought is high quality, ensure that it's been stamped with a purity mark (like 925) before you buy.

As with silver, gold is a soft metal and so also has to be alloyed with other metals to make it hard enough for jewellery making. Pure gold, for example is yellow, while white gold is gold that has been alloyed with nickel, copper and zinc, and can sometimes look similar to platinum. Generally speaking, platinum jewellery is 90% pure platinum and 10% iridium or palladium alloy. Moreover, jewellery that contains more than 95 per cent pure platinum is marked 'platinum' (950 plat or 950pt), whereas 85 percent pure platinum will be marked 850plat or 850pt. Platinum jewellery is rapidly gaining popularity and other related metals - like palladium and titanium - are, as a result being used with increasing frequency in jewellery-making.

Silver - The Precious White Gold!

Pure silver (Ag) has a melting point of 1761 (F)/ 961 (C) and its specific gravity is 10.49 units, whereas sterling silver has a melting point of 1640 (F)/ 893 (C) and its specific gravity being 10.36 units.Silver is the most popular metal, owing to a number of factors.

(1) It is a precious metal and therefore anything made in silver has intrinsic value.

(2) Silver is a relatively cheap metal with which to work, taking into account the amounts required to produce small pieces of jewelery.

Pure silver, which is known as 'fine silver', is, like fine gold, a very soft metal and is therefore of little use to the jeweler in this form, except as a plating metal. It is therefore alloyed with other metals to produce harder silver alloys. Silver Alloys:

Sterling Silver

Britannia Silver

This is a higher standard of silver alloy containing 958.4 parts fine silver and 41.6 parts copper. {This standard was introduced in England by Act of Parliament in 1697 to replace sterling silver as the obligatory standard for items of "wrought plate". - Wikipedia

One distinct disadvantage of silver is its affinity for atmospheric sulphur, which produces a golden brown stain or tarnish film. When silver is subjected to successive heating, be it for soldering, annealing, casting, etc., the copper in the alloy oxidizes and forms a grey stain on the surface of the metal. 

What is 10K, 14K, 24K Gold

There are many metals that are used for making different types of jewelry, including golden jewelry, silver jewelry and diamond jewelry. The market research says that more people, especially women these days are found wearing silver chains, sterling silver jewelry and silver pendants.

Whether it is gold, silver or diamond, their values are measured in karats. Ideal Metal for Jewelry

Gold is an expensive and a valuable metal. The metal does not decay and tarnish. Gold is a very pricey metal. The mixing with nickel, silver and zinc also increases the rigidity and solidity of gold.

24 karat is the pure gold. The second next in purity is 18 karat consisting of 18 parts of gold and 6 parts of other elements, thus equating the purity of 75%. The purity of 12-karat is 58.3% marked and has 12 parts of gold and 12 parts of other elements, mounting it purity to 50%

10-karat comprises 10 parts of gold and 14 parts of other additional elements. This the most impure form, consisting of 41.7% gold. The color can be changed by adding different metals and exhilarating colors to pure gold. Greenish cast gold is prepared by adding silver.

Silver jewelry

If you look up at sterling silver ornaments, including silver chains and silver pendants, you will find a mark of "925" that states that it has 92.5% pure silver in it.

925 Sterling Silver Jewellery Information

Pure 99.9% silver is a very precious noble metal, similar to gold in its properties. Its color is white and shinny, malleable and ductile, soft and easy to work with. Pure silver does not oxidize in contact with water or air and does not change colors. Pure 99.9% silver is a very precious noble metal, similar to gold in its properties. Pure silver does not oxidize in contact with water or air and does not change colors. Sterling silver is used to produce durable solid silverware for special occasions, silver trays, utensils, etc. 925 sterling silver is not as expensive as pure silver. Gems and precious stones look even better when mounted in handcrafted silver jewellery rings, earrings, necklaces or bracelets.

Some facts about tarnishing
Noble metals like gold and silver do not tarnish. Men's silver costume jewellery
Last century, most men only wore a wedding ring, perhaps a medal or cross if they were raised Catholic, and their watch. Men wear earrings, studs, piercings, all kinds of rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc.

Rose Gagnon is an expert in the field of noble metals and jewellery, specialized in sterling silver jewellery and pure silver.

Silver and Gold Pendants - A Buyers Guide

Pendants are adornments for necklaces. Pendants are often made from various precious metals and decorated with precious minerals or an engraved pattern.

Silver Pendants

Sterling silver is the standard grade used for jewellery. Sterling Silver should be marked '925'.

Gold Pendants

As with most gold jewellery, pendants can be made from yellow and white gold. As gold is not naturally white it is worth being mindful that, over time white gold may need to be restored. A 9 carat, solid gold pendant could contain around 35% pure gold whereas and 18 carat solid gold pendant would contain 75% pure gold. This drastically changes the price. Any solid gold jewellery should be engraved with a hallmark. 9ct gold should have the number '375' engraved and 18ct gold will have '750'.

Gemstones and Decoration

A large number of pendants include gemstones or other decorative materials with varying values. One commonly used material is mother of pearl. Other precious stones may be used to decorate pendants but diamonds are a very popular addition to gold pendants. These are generally set into yellow of white gold of 18ct purity or higher.

Costs

Plain or engraved 9ct yellow gold pendants should cost £50 - £100. 

Brief Introduction of 925 Silver and Maintenance Tips

Anodic oxidation on silver jewelry -- the so-called anodic oxidation treatment in the most direct way is to plate the jewelry with a very thin layer of white alumina. This treatment is being used wildly on silver jewelry now.

a. What is 925 silver

Generally speaking, the sterling silver jewelry sold in the market is made of 925 silver instead of 999 sterling silver. 925 silver is a kind of alloy which combines 7.5% of other metals and 92.5% of silver, and it is internationally recognized as sterling silver. The jewelry made of 925 silver is stronger and more durable. Compared with the jewelry made of 999 sterling silver, the jewelry made of 925 silver can keep its shape and does not deforms easily, at the same time, the surface of the jewelry will not wear too much or need constant polishing.

b. How to maintain sterling silver jewelry

The biggest reason that leads silver oxidation is the oxygen in the air, so the best way of maintenance is to use air barrier, for example, silver jewelry should be put in a sealed plastic bag and then into the jewelry box, blocking air contact with the silver. When silver jewelry is oxidized, silver polishing dip (SP dip) or silver polishing cloth (SP cloth) can be used to polish the jewelry. Claire Churchill loves all those beautiful jewelry and enjoys working in the jewelry business.