Comparing Metal Elements For Jewellery Making
In jewellery making, there are several types of metals that can be used. However, there are main metals that are usually chosen by jewellers due to their inherent characteristics. If you want to make a good collection of metal jewellery, it adds to your edge as a buyer if you know what these metals are. There are four main types of metal that are used in jewellery making – gold, sterling silver, platinum, and palladium.
Gold has a yellow and white colour. This is usually favoured by many people who love to wear accessories due to their shine and value. This is truly a valuable possession especially if you choose gold with the higher karat. If you are not really that into jewellery, you will likely not be aware about what the karat of a certain piece of gold jewellery is. These karats are used the determinant of how much the value of the jewellery is. These karats are usually stated as 9, 12, 14, 18 and 24 karats. However, there is yet no 24 karat gold jewellery being made. The usual expensive classes of jewellery that you will find in the market are 14 to 18 karats. Before, yellow gold is the more dominant piece of jewellery but now, white gold is also steadily increasing in popularity.
Sterling silver is yet another popular metal jewellery material due to its cheaper value without losing the kind of lustre that you see in gold. It is available in the market at lower prices than white gold and platinum. This is valued by measuring the amount of real silver present in the jewellery. Other metals need to be added to the materials for the jewellery in order to make it stronger for your use. The measurements of are noted by numbers like “925” which means that the jewellery is made up of 92.5% silver. The value “999” means that the silver has 99.9% real silver in it. The other metals that are usually mixed with silver are copper and nickel.
Another metal that is used in making jewelleries is platinum, which has a rare supply in the market. Its rare availability makes it the most expensive of all the metals mined in the world. It is even more three to four times more expensive than gold, making platinum less popular than other metals. Due to its hard characteristic, it cannot be combined with other types of metals. This is also good for those people who want to wear jewellery but are allergic to other kinds of metals.
Palladium is another fast rising alternative to the expensive white gold and palladium. It still has the attractive lustre of other types of metals because it is almost similar to platinum. There is more abundance of palladium, which makes it more affordable than platinum. This is also more hypoallergenic than other jewelleries that contain copper or nickel. Moreover, you can enjoy the similarities that palladium has with platinum which belongs to its family of metals. It would still seem like you are wearing a platinum piece of jewellery.
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