In jewellery making, there are several metals that are used in the process. This creates different jewellery for different purposes. If you are picking out jewellery, you might want to learn more about the materials that are used in making them first. This will help you decide what metal you would like your jewellery to be made of. The most common metals used are gold, white gold, silver, palladium, platinum, and titanium.

Gold
Gold is the most popular metal used for engagement and wedding rings. This is also commonly used in making pendants, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and brooches. Gold is a precious metal, proven by its being the most searched for metal in history. Until now, it is seen as a symbol of wealth and high social status. Pure gold is quite hard to tarnish, making it a refined and sophisticated material for jewellery making. However, a 24-karat pure gold is usually too soft for daily use. This is why jewellery makers usually mix pure gold with other alloys like copper, silver, nickel and zinc to help increase its strength and resistance. Pure gold does not tarnish though they can be easily twisted. Mixed gold can have slight discolouration though. For gold jewellery in everyday use, it is best to buy 14 to 18 karat gold.

White Gold
White gold is a gold metal alloy mixture with more percentage of nickel in it, giving its white colour. This is created when gold id treated and coated with white metal called rhodium. Even if white gold is hard, it still wears out after long use. To get its lustre back, it can be simply re-Rhodium-plated at least every 18 months.

Silver
Silver is among the most in demand metals used in jewellery because it is available in more supplies than the other metals. The best type of silver is sterling silver, which is made of 92.5% pure silver. Silver easily gets tarnished and worn out than gold and platinum. Pure silver is not recommended for everyday wear because it is even softer in material than silver. Due to oxidation, silver might have blackening and discolouration. However, this can be solved with the use of silver cleaning solution.

Platinum
Platinum is the most durable metal used by jewellery makers. It does not tarnish and has the highest melting point among jewellery metals. This is a mixture of 90% platinum and 10% iridium. Even if this is the toughest jewellery metal available, it is also more rare than gold, making it even more expensive. This is also used in making wedding rings.

Palladium
Palladium is harder but more affordable than platinum. It is a good alternative to platinum, especially for the fact that it can endure more wear and tear exposure to everyday use. However, you cannot easily trick someone into believing that they are platinum even when they look almost the same. This is because real platinum has an engraving of the word “plat.”

Titanium
Titanium is the hardest metal found in the world. Its hardness makes it ideal for use in making rings. Despite its strength, it is still light to bear. Pure titanium is also 100% hypoallergenic, making the user protected from allergic reactions.

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