precious metals Buyer's Guide
Gold
Long considered the most precious of metals, gold is deeply woven into the very fabric of human culture. It captures our imagination and has inspired numerous legends and myths throughout the course of history. Gold has been treasured, hoarded, coveted and lavishly bestowed upon people, temples and objects of worship. Responsible for creating global currencies, starting wars, toppling empires, mass migrations and more, gold has helped shaped the course of human history – it is a metal that we are inextricably bound to.
Untarnishable, un-corrodible, it is the most malleable of metals, yet remains miraculously strong. While its rich luster has long influenced the affairs of state and religion, its primary use remains within the realms of personal adornment.
Frequently featuring as an integral part of antique and modern jewelry’s numerous different forms, purchasers should be aware of what gold varieties are on offer and why. The following will shed some light on this ancient metal’s application in today’s market place.
Gold Purity
Pure gold is relatively soft and as a consequence has durability problems. Ornate pieces of jewelry can be bent, and expensive gemstones can be lost from their settings. This unacceptable tendency of pure gold has largely given rise to the modern gold we find in the jewelers’ window today.
Virtually all gold featured in jewelry today is alloyed with secondary metals that enhance its everyday durability. These gold alloys are so frequent, that in many countries many people find the color of pure gold peculiar! However, not all gold purities are the same. The different purities of gold alloys used by jewelers give consumers varying options regarding gold color, affordability and durability.
Gold purity is measured in karats. While the term “karat” may sound identical to the term “carat”, which is used to measure weight in gemstones, the two terms do not have the same meaning. Karat ratio in gold tells you the percentage or proportion of gold purity. Gold with a higher karat ratio, is comparatively more expensive gram for gram when compared to gold with lower karat ratios. Expressed as a ratio of 24 parts, the most frequently seen gold purities are:
24 Karat – 100 percent pure gold.
22 Karat – 91.7 percent pure gold.
18 Karat – 75 percent pure gold.
14 Karat – 58 percent pure gold.
10 Karat – 41.6 percent pure gold.
Gold Marks & Stamps
Gold should always have a stamped “k”, or karat mark upon it that states its purity. U.S. law dictates that if a karat mark appears, then you should be able to see the manufacturer’s trademark. In the U.S., nothing less than a 10 Karat purity can legally be sold as gold, however in other countries 9 Karat and even 8 Karat gold is legal.
Gold Pricing
Raw, un-worked gold pricing is based on the karat ratio and the gold weight. For jewelry, we must also take into account additional factors. Diamonds and gemstones must be accounted for, as well as construction techniques that can make a piece of jewelry more durable, more ornate, or even unique. Features such as robust clasps all add to the price of a piece of finished jewelry.
Gold Colors
Gold comes in a number of different colors offering consumers a wide choice when buying this lustrous precious metal:
Yellow Gold The most frequently seen gold type that displays a timeless color. Usually alloyed with silver and copper.
White Gold
Harder than yellow gold with a bright lustrous white color, white gold is most commonly alloyed with palladium. Palladium, a rare and expensive precious metal, increases the value of white gold to above that of yellow gold.
Rose Gold Mostly alloyed with copper, this increasingly popular gold type has a striking pink to reddish hue.
Gold Types
While solid gold is the most frequently seen gold type available in the market, buyers should also be aware of the other gold types available, which deliver comparable beauty at different values. Naturally, the higher the gold proportions or weight in the other types, the more expensive they are.
Gold Filled
Also known as gold overlay. These terms refer to a gold layer that has been bonded to a support metal. To qualify for use of this term, the gold must be at least 10% of the total weight.
Gold Plate
Means that a thin layer of gold plating that has been bonded to a base metal. The total gold content of the object may be less than 5%, must be properly identified in terms of total content.
Vermeil Gold plated silver. Deriving from the French word for “veneer”, it is also referred to as on-lay or double.
Gold Leaf Ultra thin gold plating that’s pounded and thinned, then applied to an object.
Platinum
Sixty times rarer than gold, platinum is only found in a few locations worldwide – Russia’s Ural Mountains, South Africa’s Merensky Reef, and a few small mines in the U.S. and Canada. Relatively new to the jewelry market, platinum is fast becoming incredibly popular and is already a bedrock of the contemporary jewelry landscape. Purer, stronger and denser than gold, platinum is considered by many to be the ultimate and most luxurious of all the precious metals.
Platinum Purity
Platinum purity is expressed differently than gold. Instead of expressing purity in ratios of 24 parts, platinum standards are expressed as units of a 1,000 parts. The most regular platinum purities seen are:
950 Plat – 95 percent pure platinum.
900 Plat – 90 percent pure platinum.
850 Plat – 85 percent pure platinum.
Platinum Marks & Stamps
Platinum should always carry a stamped mark upon it, which states its purity. U.S. law dictates that if a purity mark appears, then you should also be able to see the manufacturer’s trademark. U.S. law also states that platinum with a purity of less than 85% cannot legally be called platinum. Modern platinum jewelry is usually stamped with a simple purity mark such as 950 or PT950.
Silver
With a rich history stretching back some 5,000 years, like gold, silver occupies a hallowed place in our collective history. From the age-old Sumerian city of Ur, to the ancient America’s, to Greco-Roman culture and the ancient Far East, silver has been used by nearly all global cultures over the last two millennia.
Sharing much in common with its more glamorous counterpart gold, silver too is most frequently used for personal adornment.
Silver Purity
Like gold, pure silver or fine silver is relatively soft and malleable. As a result, painstakingly crafted jewelry and other objects can be easily damaged if created from pure silver. As a consequence, silver is commonly alloyed with (a) secondary metal(s), usually copper, to create a more durable precious metal.
Sterling silver is the standard for beautiful high-quality silver jewelry and other objects d’art. It’s 92.5% pure silver, and is alloyed with (a) secondary metal(s) for added strength and durability. Unlike gold, but like platinum, silver purities are expressed as units of a 1,000 parts. The most regularly seen silver purities are:
958 – 95.8 percent pure silver, known as Britannia Silver.
925 – 92.5 percent pure silver (also expressed as 92.5 and .925), known as sterling silver.
Some countries can use 850 or even the 800 purities. However, mandicollection.com only stocks the finest sterling silvers available.
Silver Marks & Stamps
Antique silver often possesses “hallmarks”. An elaborate system of purity and accountability stretching back into history, these marks include combinations of town marks, standard marks, date letters and the maker’s marks! Fortunately, in modern jewelry this system is replaced with a simple 925 (or similar) mark.
Silver Pricing
The small amount of copper added to sterling silver has little effect on the value. Instead, the price of silver items is affected by the labor and craftsmanship involved in crafting an item.
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