© Marcin Jewelry
Chains:
Karat Gold - the measurement in gold is in karats. Pure gold is 24 karats. Typically jewelry is not made in 24 karat gold as the metal is soft. By alloying it with other metals, it becomes stronger. An alloy is a mixture of two or more elements in solid solution in which the major component is a metal. It is important to note that when alloying gold, the metals are mixed together, not plated on or filled into. So the metal is consistent throughout. 18 karat gold is 18 karats of pure gold and 6 karats other metals, typically silver, copper, zinc, nickel, iron or almost any other metal, which are alloyed or mixed with the gold. It follows then that 14 karat gold is 14 parts pure gold and 10 parts other metals (or 58.33% gold or 41.67% other metals); and 10 karat gold is 10 parts pure gold and 14 parts other metals... each totaling 24 karats. In the United States, metal must be at least 10 karat to be sold as karat gold.
While pure gold is yellow in color, gold can be developed into various colors. These
colors are generally obtained by mixing gold with other elements in various proportions.
There are hundreds of possible alloys and mixtures, but in general the addition of
silver will color gold white, and the addition of copper will color it red creating
"rose gold". A mix of around 50/50 copper and silver gives the range of yellow gold
alloys the public is accustomed to seeing in the marketplace. A small amount (0.2%)
of can be added to harden the alloy.
Sterling Silver - is generally used for jewelry,
and that is what most people think of when they see silver. Silver also comes in
various quality grades, measured by 1/1000 parts per gram. There are impurities that
naturally occur in silver at the molecular level. These impurities consist of other
metals - usually copper, but traces of other metals can also be found. These trace
impurities are insignificant, and would be too costly to remove - so .999 silver
is considered pure. .925 sterling is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper.
Bonding and Plating - There are different grades and methods of bonding precious metals to a less expensive base metal. Many jewelry items are made of either plated, bonded or filled metals. This is done to keep the cost of these items as low as possible.
- Filled Metals - have one or more layers of precious metal bonded to a base with heat and pressure. Filled materials are at least 1/20 precious metal by weight. Filled metal objects are marked with a quality stamp such as 12k GF or 14k GF.
- Flash or plate - These terms refer to the thinnest gold, silver, platinum or rhodium coating. There is no standard thickness.
- Electroplated - In this process, metals are electrolytically deposited on a base. These metals have a required minimum standard thickness - usually 15 - 25 mils (millionths of an inch). Heavy Gold Electroplate has a minimum thickness requirement of 100 mils to be stamped: (HGE).
- Clad - A composite metal containing two or more layers that have been bonded together. The bonding may have been accomplished by co-rolling, co-extrusion, welding, diffusion bonding, casting, heavy chemical deposition, or heavy electroplating. It is thought to be a good technique for coating as there seems to be an increase life-time of wearing part by 6-7.
- Gold, Platinum or Silver Filled - A layer of karat gold, platinum or silver is mechanically bonded to a base metal, usually brass or steel. Gold filled is marked with the gold percentage by weight and the karat value. If a piece of jewelry is marked 1/20 14K GF - 5% or 1/20th of the total weight is 14K gold.
- Vermeil - Gold plated over silver. Silver is the "base" metal. Typically 100 mils (millionths of an inch)must be the thickness of the gold plate to be called vermeil.
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