Gold
Learn About the Gold in Your Jewelry

Gold Characteristics

Pure gold is actually very soft - too soft to be used in jewelry on its own, so it is usually combined with other metals, or alloys, to make it stronger and harder-wearing. Typical alloys include copper, zinc and nickel.

Gold is also one of the most malleable of all the metals, which means that it is perfect for crafting into interesting designs without putting too much stress on the metal.

Gold Karat

The percentage of gold in jewelry varies and is referred to in karats, or K for short. Pure gold is referred to as 24K gold. Much of our jewelry collection is manufactured from 18K gold which is 75% gold and 25% metal alloys. 14K gold is made up of 58.3% gold and 41.7% other metals to give it extra strength.

Yellow Gold

Yellow gold is available in different tones and the exact yellow hue depends in the type of metal alloys used and the percentage of each of them. Pure gold is a rich, shining yellow, full of luster. 18K gold is also an intense yellow but 14K gold may be a little muted in tone compared to 18K or 24K gold because of the higher percentages of metal alloys which dilute the brilliant gold color somewhat.

White Gold

White gold is actually yellow gold which has been combined with a white metal such as palladium or nickel to give it a white hue.

White gold, if left uncoated, will usually lack luster and shine because of the metal alloy. The natural color of white gold is actually a light grey. Generally, white gold is coated with a very thin layer of rhodium to give it greater depth of color and shine.

Learn about Platinum and Palladium.