do you know the truth about gold and silver jewelry?; Do you want to know the vocabulary of gold and silver jewelry? Everything around these base metals in the world of jewelry is governed by the use of a series of terms; which are the basis for designing, manufacturing and marketing the garments that are produced worldwide.
For example, terms like gold plating, solid gold, gold jewellery, silver or pewter jewellery, as well as the word «carats», are elemental in the world of jewellery, since they determine the level of quality that identifies a piece and obviously affects its price or cost. That’s why when you buy gold and silver jewelry, you should be aware of these types of details.
Thus, it is considered that pure gold is one that has 24 carats or 24K, which means that gold has been mixed with other metals to obtain sufficient degrees of hardness and durability, considering that it is a soft metal. Therefore, in this case, the amount of pure gold and the other metals add up to a total of 24 carats; while 18-carat gold (18k) would contain 18 parts of molten gold and 6 parts of another metal; and 14 karat (14K) gold is 14 parts gold fused to 10 parts other metal.
Another important factor when purchasing gold and silver jewelry is related to the karat quality mark, in the case of gold, which could be indicated with a name, initials or a symbol; so that it is not safe to buy a piece if you do not see the registered mark next to the karat mark.
When you hear that a piece of jewelry is «solid gold»; they are referring to solid pieces, that is, their interior is not hollow; Therefore, the brand of the garment in question must identify the proportion of gold parts and the other metals of the piece; while the term “gold plated” refers to jewelry that has gone through a mechanical plating process, electro-plating, and other processes; but over time, this layer of gold plating tends to wear off; which will depend on the frequency of use and its thickness.
Also, there are the terms “gold rolled”, “gold plated” and “gold plated (RGP)”; which are used to describe jewelry made from a base metal; to which a sheet or layer of gold is applied, mechanically; to get it to have at least 10 carats. With in the other cases described above, these products must be marked with the term or abbreviation; as well as the karat quality of the gold used to roll them. One way to mark it would be: “14K gold plated or 12K RGP gold plated”.
But, if we are in the presence of a product whose gold layer is less than 1/20 of the total weight of the metal used to make the piece, it must be marked, noting the fraction of carats of gold that are present; For example: “1/40 14K gold plated”.
On the other hand, there is gold galvanizing; that it is the jewelry that is made with a layer of gold, of at least .175 microns, which is fixed to the metal through an electrolytic process; by which it must be guaranteed that the piece has at least ten carats. There are also certain gold-plated products; which are known as “vermeil” or gilded silverwhich have a base of fine silver rolled or plated with gold.
There are other terms like «gold» and «gold plating»; that describe materials that have a very thin layer of gold; which is applied through an electro-plating process; that sets less than .175 microns thick; which provides these materials with a golden effect, which wears faster than gold plating, rolled gold or electro-plated gold; so you must learn to differentiate each of these forms of gold and silver, to avoid being deceived.
Regarding silver jewelry, we must clarify that the terms generally used are: silver, fine silver, sterling silver or sterling silver; they are used to identify products that have 92.5% pure silver; so it is customary to mark them with the number 925, which means that they have 925 parts of pure silver in every thousand.
As in the case of gold jewelry, some jewelry made with «silver bath», have a layer of silver applied on a metal base; while when talking about minted silver, reference is made to alloys that have 90% pure silver; which legally must be marked on the piece; so you should be aware of this detail; since, when buying gold and silver jewelry, there is a risk of being deceived.