Precious Metals

Gold, Platinum, Palladium & Silver

Gold

Pure gold has many unique and desirable characteristics that make it valuable. For instance, it doesn’t tarnish, it is non-allergenic, it is very malleable/workable, polishes to a mirror-like shine, is rare, and it is highly valued in every country in the world. However, it is very soft in its pure state and is generally considered to be unsuitable for jewelry.

In order to make gold jewelry that is durable and long lasting, gold is combined with other metals--called alloys--to make it stronger. The amount of gold in the mixture is measured in Karats, abbreviated K. A Karat is a unit of purity for gold alloys. The higher the karat number, the higher the percentage of gold in the item.

Alloys add strength, but dilute the amount of the gold. In an attempt to achieve the best balance between the strength of alloys and the desirable properties of gold, several different karat gold combinations have become standard: 22K, 18K, 14K, and 10K.

Each of these has the following percentage of gold:

24K = 100% gold
22K = 92% gold, 8% alloy
18K = 75% gold, 25% alloy
14K = 58.3% gold, 41.7% alloy
10K = 41.7% gold, 58.3% alloy

White Gold

White gold is an alloy of gold and a white metal such as silver and palladium. Traditionally nickel was also used in white gold, however, now it is rarely used. The natural color of white gold is actually a light grey color, so white gold pieces are usually covered/plated with another white metal called Rhodium. The rhodium plating is used to make the white gold look more white.

Red Gold/Rose Gold/Pink Gold

Rose gold, red gold, and pink gold are made from a gold and copper alloy or a gold, copper and silver alloy. Since copper has a pinkish-orange color, mixing it with gold gives the gold a beautiful pinkish gold color. The percentage of copper used in the alloy determines the color of the gold. The more copper that is used, the stronger the rose color. Pink gold uses the least amount of copper, rose gold has slightly more, and red gold has the highest copper content.

Platinum

Platinum is a white metal, but unlike gold it is used in jewelry in almost its pure form (approximately 95% pure). Platinum is extremely long wearing and is very white, so it does not need to be Rhodium plated like white gold. Platinum is very dense (heavy), so a platinum ring will feel heavier than an 18K gold ring.

Palladium

Palladium, like Platinum, is a naturally white metal, hypoallergenic, will not tarnish and remains white forever. It is lighter in weight than its sister metal, Platinum. Palladium is 95% pure when used in jewelry, is extremely durable, and does not require any alloy metals and/or plating to prevent discoloration. It will remain white as long as you own your jewelry.

Silver

Pure silver is very malleable, soft and easily damaged. As a result, like gold, it is commonly combined with other metals to produce a more durable product. The most popular silver alloy is sterling silver, which consists of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper.