Lovida Education - Metals

Gold

Gold has been used in making jewellery for generations. Gold will not rust, tarnish or corrode. Its gleaming beauty, strength yet malleable nature makes it the ideal metal for jewellery making.

As pure gold is too soft for everyday wear, it is alloyed with mixture of metals like silver, copper, nickel, and zinc to give it strength and durability it needs. Karatage, denoted by a number followed by "k" indicates purity, or how much of the metal in a piece of jewelry is gold. Pure gold is expressed as 24K.

Platinum

The most appealing trait of platinum is its durability. Each time other metals are scratched or polished, a very tiny bit of metal is lost. In fact in time, prongs of white gold and yellow gold may wear down enough that you need to have them reinforced with more metal for safety. While platinum may scratch and leave a patina of wear, it will not chip or break easily. Some people like this look, but if you like the shine, you can bring it back to your jeweller for polishing. This would restore its reflective finish once more.