Gold – A Miner’s Dream
When we think of gold, the common terms that pop up in our minds are gold chains, gold bars and gold coins. While these are considered physical forms of gold, there are also other kinds of gold available in the market – gold nuggets, gold jewellery, gold bullions and even scrap gold.
In this article, we are going to focus on three things. First, the different types of gold content that are commonly used in jewellery, secondly, the common misconceptions and misleading terms used for gold jewellery and lastly, the different colours of gold.
Gold content
The standard of gold is usually demarcated by the “Karat” mark. Take note that this is different from the “Carat” used for Diamonds. The former is an indicator of the gold content, or percentage, whereas the latter is used to indicate the size of the gemstone or diamond.
The “Karat” mark allows jewellery owners to know how much gold content the jewellery actually has. It is the direct indication of purity. This is because gold, in its natural pure form, is soft and malleable, making it too impractical to wear long term as jewellery. Hence, modern day jewellers add other metal alloys to create a sturdier, long-lasting piece of jewellery.
At Little Jadeite House, we only use 18-karat gold for all our jade jewelleries. This is because, the purity of 18-karat gold is high enough to keep almost all of the gold character and tonal looks while making it extremely practical and durable to wear. The 18-karat gold also produces the right tones and does not tarnish easily over time.
All our jadeite jewelleries with settings come with a 750 hallmark, a quality stamp that indicates that you are getting a piece of 18-karat gold setting. Consistency of setting quality and gold content are regularly inspected to ensure the utmost standards for our customers.
Common misconceptions about Gold Jewellery
“Gold plated” - a gold plated accessory has no real gold content. It has just the colour of gold that makes it look like the real thing. The price of this type of jewellery is usually low. In addition, the coating on this type of jewellery often gets worn off quickly, causing a loss of colour and shine. According to experts, gold-tone jewellery may cause allergic reactions to sensitive individuals. Those who are sensitive to certain metals such as nickel need to avoid gold plated jewellery pieces.
“Gold-filled” - Unlike gold-plated accessories that merely pass through an aqueous solution with gold ions, gold-filled accessories have tangible gold layers. Gold plated accessories are dipped in this solution to give the appearance of pure gold, which means it’s a purely superficial cosmetic process. When an item is gold-filled, you can break it down to a more basic state and separate the gold from the base metal. The base metal used is often brass – so don’t be fooled that you’re buying a real gold piece of jewellery!
We do not sell or encourage our buyers to buy any form of jadeite jewellery that is set or designed in the above. This is because, jadeite jewellery is meant to be worn and also meant to last a lifetime – that’s how Little Jadeite House likes their jade. We truly believe that good jadeite needs a nice solid setting to bring out both its investment value and wearability.
Colours of Gold
Gold jewellery actually comes in many colours. Popular colours used in the jewellery industry are yellow gold, rose gold, white gold and black gold. We will touch on the three main types of gold that Little Jadeite House jewellery pieces commonly use below:
1) Yellow Gold: When people think of gold jewellery, they automatically think of yellow gold. The 18-karat yellow gold is usually achieved with a blend of metals such as silver, copper and zinc alloys to create a more solid and practical piece of yellow gold jewellery. Common alloy composition for 18-karat yellow gold features7 5% gold, 15% copper, and 12.5% silver. This gold colour goes amazing with icy and black jadeite!
2) White Gold: A shimmering bright silvery looking gold jewellery in white gold is synonymous with purity and clean looking silhouettes. White gold is achieved by mixing pure gold with bright white coloured metals such as palladium and nickel. Often, white gold jewellery pieces are coated with a layer of rhodium to give it that polished finish and to increase its strength and durability. This gold colour is popular green jadeite, blue as well as yellow jadeite!
3) Rose Gold: Commonly known as pink gold or champagne gold, this gold colour is achieved by blending pure gold with copper, allowing it to have a tinge of red. Depending on the proportions used to blend the copper with the gold, the shades of the rose gold will vary. The higher the copper content, the redder the end product. It is common for goldsmiths to blend 75% pure gold with 25% copper – achieving the most popular desired rose gold. This gold colour goes best with lavender jadeite!
Our designs and pieces are thoroughly thought through to see what kind of gold colour best matches the piece of jadeite – allowing it to shine in the greatest glory on you. If you prefer a certain colour of gold for your jewellery, we also provide the bespoke option, helping you find a special piece of jadeite and setting it to your design and preference.
If you’ve any questions, you may Whatsapp us at +65 97356878, visit our website www.littlejadeitehouse.com and join our telegram channel Littlejadeitehouse. Our Instagram @littlejadeitehouse features the most up to date pieces available for sale.
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