PRECIOUS METALS
I am a goldsmith. That means that I am a metal worker who chooses to work with precious metals only. Precious metals are a group of metals with great qualities which allow for long lasting jewelry for every day wear.
These are the precious metals I work with:
Click here to read about the way to take care of you jewelry
STERLING SILVER
Some people may know this as 925 silver. This is the most economical metal I work with and it is also the softest of them all. Sterling silver is an alloy of at least 92,5% silver which is mixed with copper to make it hard enough to be used for jewelry. Sterling silver has a gorgeous crispy white color when it’s clean. Acidity in air, rain water and sometimes the skin can cause it to oxidize. This will cause the surface to be black / brown.
This oxidation can be removed by rubbing it with a silver cloth which can be bought in most super markets / convenience stores. The blacker the cloth gets, the better it will work. Silver can also be kept clean by wearing it and rubbing it / playing with it a lot. If you decide to not wear it for a while, you can best keep it in an airtight pocket / container.
Technical properties of sterling silver are that it is rather soft to work with and that it collides the heat very well. This means that it is an easy metal to form which shortens the time needed for forging, gem setting and polishing but elongates the time needed for soldering and also gives less options for repairing and resizing pieces with gemstones as the metal won’t heat up enough when the side with the stone is being cooled. I currently do not weld but silver is also difficult to weld because it turns into a soup when blasted by the heat of welding. Silver is more prone to be damaged / break than gold and therefor silver jewelry needs to be a bit thicker than gold jewelry. On average, well made silver rings last 25 years.
Silver alloys that are mixed in non-EU countries may contain other metals like nickel that can cause irritations. Silver of lower alloys can also be stamped 925, I do not work with any of these metals and I have never encountered anyone who was allergic to the sterling silver I use, even when they thought that they were allergic to silver. Silver allergy exists but allegedly, only one in a million suffers from that. You are most likely allergic to other non-precious metals.
14 CARAT (14K) GOLD
14 Carat (14k) gold is both the most economical and the most durable alloy of gold that I work with. It is a very strong metal that allows for fine work that is suitable for daily wear and can last for generations. 14k gold doesn’t oxidize or tarnish.
It consists of at least 58,5% pure gold molecules and that is mixed with other metals such as copper, silver and palladium for strength and color. Shades of 14k gold that I work with are:
yellow gold (crispy pastel yellow),
warm gold (also called yellow gold by some but a warmer shade of yellow),
rose gold (a pink-ish warm shade)
palladium white gold (a deeper shade of grey than silver)
Yellow, warm and rose gold are very similar in technical properties. They are equally strong and durable.
Palladium white gold is tougher and stronger than the other shades due to the palladium that causes the grey color. It takes a stronger hand / more patience to forge and form and as palladium is a precious metal that is even more valuable than gold, the value of a piece of jewelry in this alloy is higher than that of pieces in the other shades of gold. Traditional white gold that doesn’t specify the palladium compound, has nickel in it. I do not work with any nickel so I do not use traditional white gold. White gold in jewelry stores is often plated with rhodium to give it a crispier appearance. This is always a thin layer that wears off rather quickly. I do not offer rhodium plating; what you see is what you get.
A great technical property of gold is that it doesn’t collide the heat very well which allows for local heating and soldering while cooling fragile parts like gemstones that are set in the piece. This means, that for many designs, sizes can be altered, also if your ring size changes over the years. Repairs in gold tend to be a lot easier and of better quality than in silver.
Any carat lower than 14k gold is not allowed to be gold in The Netherlands and should be marked as ‘mixed metal’ as it has less than 50% gold compound. There are no regulations for the amount of gold in mixed metal. I don’t work with mixed metal and I do not have any way to source it.
SHADES OF 14K GOLD
YELLOW GOLD
WARM GOLD
ROSE GOLD
WHITE GOLD
18 CARAT (18K) GOLD
18 Carat (18k) gold contains 73,5% gold and has all the same great qualities as 14k gold. It is softer and easier to work with. It is also more valuable.
Shades of 18k gold are more vibrant than 14k gold. Shades of 18k gold I work with are:
Yellow gold
Rose gold
Palladium white gold
