Materials we use to make our jewelry
The materials we use to make our jewelry are important to many of our customers so I'm posting about them here so that I can make it easier to find the information and also simplify some of our other pages.
Sterling silver:
The word "Sterling" is a contraction of "Easterling" which was the term used to describe silver imported from a German and Baltic association of about a hundred members in the late 14th century. The association was more formally known as the "Hanseatic League." The association's members were also called Easterlings. The purity of their silver was so consistent that it later became the standard of purity that we know as Sterling Silver. Sterling silver is a good compromise between whiteness, softness, and hardness. Pure silver is the whitest of all precious metals but it is too soft to be used in most jewelry so it is not among materials we use normally . I've seen early pieces of jewelry from the Victorian period made of pure silver that was backed with 18 or 14K gold. The gold was used to make the jewelry sturdy enough to wear. White gold alloys and platinum have replaced silver but none are as white as pure silver. Our silver is sterling ( 925 ) and is also recycled. Sterling silver is 925 parts fine ( pure ) silver to about 75 parts copper out of 1000.
Gold
We use recycled gold in the jewelry that we make except for 24K. 14K gold is 58% pure or fine gold. In 14K yellow copper and silver are used in fairly equal parts, to make up the 42% that remains out of 100%. Varying the ratio of copper to silver will result in a greenish or reddish color but if it is marked 14K the amount of fine gold in the alloy remains the same 58%. Using mostly copper will result in rose gold. Using mostly silver will result in green gold. We now have peach gold, chocolate, purple and a few other colors of gold that are not among materials we use. I've simplified this a bit. Refiners do add other alloys to their karat gold to improve its work ability and casting properties. The same applies to other karats but the ratio of fine gold to alloy is different. 18K is 75% fine gold and 22K is 91% fine gold, pure gold is 24K.
White gold, Why is palladium white gold superior?
We only use palladium white gold now because it is superior to common white gold in several ways. The differences between palladium and common Nickel gold alloys: We copied this article from our refiner's website. To read the entire article go to: http://technical-articles.hooverandstrong.com/wordpress/do-chemicals-affect-your-gold/
How Palladium white gold is marked:
The white gold alloys we use are palladium white gold alloys in 14D and 18D. A new way of marking this gold has been recently introduced, (D) is now used instead of (K). The ratio of gold to alloy is the same as in gold alloys, but palladium is used instead of Nickel. We are a small, artists enterprise and we choose to use the best quality 14D and 18D white gold we can find. This standard is fairly new. We have marked our palladium white gold with a "K" in the past as well as "PD."
Nickel white gold problems:
Nickel is used to make gold white, it acts like a bleach for metal. However, Nickel can cause an allergic reaction in some people. Gold alloys containing Nickel sometimes require plating to make them appear white. If that isn't bad enough, bleach and a few other common household products will slowly weaken Nickel white gold.
Technical Information from our refiner on prong failure:
Based on our testing, a consumer wearing a 14K nickel white gold setting would lose a stone or expect prong breakage as follows:
Results Of Each Solution:
Test one, 5% chlorine bleach heated to 110°F, prong failure would occur after 21 hours of exposure. Only the platinum and palladium white gold settings held their stones in the worst test solution.
Two, 5% chlorine bleach room temperature -prong failure would occur after 120 hours of exposure.
Three, 5 ppm (parts per million) chlorine using hot tub chemicals-prong failure would occur after 312 hours or 156 days.*
Four, 5 ppm (parts per million) bromine using hot tub chemicals-prong failure would occur after 384 hours or 192 days. *
Household detergent -no visible effects on the setting.
* based on 2 hours a day, 7 days a week. To read the entire article go to: http://technical-articles.hooverandstrong.com/wordpress/do-chemicals-affect-your-gold/
Gemstones:
Our gemstones are the other materials we use that matter most to our customers. Most of our colored gemstones come from a trusted source whose family has been in the business for over 600 years. Their stones are of the highest quality and their inventory is extraordinary. I'm always amazed that they almost always have just about any type of stone in stock. The choker shown on this page is a good example of the stones that our favorite dealer can supply: https://postgatejewelers.com/product/gold-celtic-choker/
We do sometimes have to look elsewhere but we always look for the most reputable and trustworthy dealers that we can find. Our diamonds are also sourced to avoid conflict stones.
Our chains:
Our gold chains come from Italy and are the highest quality chains available to us.
