Karats Aren't for Eating

A karat is not a carat, and definitely not a carrot. Carrots are a vegetable. Carats refer to diamond weight. When talking about gold, however, you use "karat," which refers to how much of the "gold" is pure gold.

Even though gold is virtually indestructible - it won't tarnish, rust, or corrode - pure gold is far too soft to be able to withstand everyday wear and tear. In fact, it's so soft that 1oz of pure gold can be stretched into a thin wire 5 miles long. To keep gold jewelry strong and lasting, it is often a combined with alloys - most often silver, copper, nickel, or zinc. This is why they have a karat value.

24K gold is 100% gold - no alloys are combined to give it more strength. However, because it's pure gold, it's too soft for jewelry. You can describe karats best by thinking of gold as being divided into 24 parts. If each of the 24 parts is gold, then it is 24K. If, for example, you have an 18K gold ring, the ring is 18 parts (or 75%) gold and 6 parts another alloy.

Caring for your Gold Jewelry

Gold won't tarnish, rust, or corrode, and therefore it's easy to clean. A commercial jewelry cleaner or mild dish detergent and warm water should do the job. Just remember to avoid harsh or abrasive cleaners that might scratch or discolor the gold. Store the jewelry separately in soft cloth boxes.

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Fun fact: Gold is expensive, but why? It's because pure gold is an element found embedded in rock. It takes 2-3 tons (4,000-6,000lbs) of gold ore to produce 1oz of pure gold.

It Comes in Colors?

Gold has a naturally yellow tint, but you can still find it in various colors. The alloys mixed with gold help to change its color.

Yellow gold: To produce a durable yellow gold, equal parts of silver and copper are mixed as alloys. But because it's also a natural color, 18K jewelry has a richer gold color than 14K.

White gold: To create white gold, nickel, zinc, copper, and manganese are mixed in the jewelry. However, 18K and 14K still have a yellow tint. Because of this, most white gold jewelry is plated with rhodium, a shiny, white metal.

Rose gold: 90% of the alloys to make a rose color is copper, the last 10% is silver.

You can even find 2-tone, 3-tone, or multi-colored gold jewelry. One of the most common is Black Hills Gold jewelry, which combines 3 gold colors to create a stunning grape leaf motif.

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Why it's Sterling

Like gold, silver is soft, but it's also easily damaged. Because of this, it is commonly combined with copper. This is what we call sterling silver, which is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper.

Why copper? Experimentation has shown that this is silver's best companion when it comes to combining 2 metals. It improves silver's durability and hardness without affecting its stunning color. The 7.5% of copper doesn't even have much affect on the price, which is instead judged mostly by labor and design.

True sterling silver is stamped with a "quality" mark, designating the silver content of the jewelry. If the jewelry is 92.5% silver, it is given one of several marks, including "sterling," "sterling silver," "ster," ".925," and "SS."

Caring for your
Sterling Silver Jewelry

The strange thing about sterling silver is that, the more you wear it, the better it looks. Tarnish builds on silver when the jewelry reacts with sulfur or hydrogen sulfide in the air. So wearing it helps prevent tarnish build-up.

Because tarnish is natural, though, it's unavoidable. To clean silver, you should use polishes made to remove tarnish. To avoid damage, store the jewelry in a cloth pouch and avoid exposure to harmful chemicals.

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Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is a hard, durable metal and, though stainless steel is not often used in jewelry, its popularity is growing. You can find it mostly in men's jewelry such as bracelets, rings, and necklaces.

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Long-lasting Beauty

Platinum, a very heavy metal, is most known for its incredible durability. Most metals lose a bit of their substance as they are scratched or polished. However, platinum is so strong that it does not readily chip or splinter, though a scratch can still leave a mark.

As the jewelry ages, platinum goes through a patina of wear. This patina, a satin sheen on the surface of platinum, is unique to the metal and many people actually prefer the look.

Caring for your
Platinum Jewelry

To maintain platinum's shine, generally all that's needed is to soak it in a mild solution of soap and warm water, then scrub with a soft-bristled brush.

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Titanium

Certainly an extremely versatile metal, titanium is used in everything from watches to rockets. It's strong. In fact, it's stronger than steel and of course much stronger than gold, silver, and platinum. However, titanium is also very lightweight. These 2 traits combined make titanium a great choice for active people. But this isn't the only advantage to having titanium jewelry. It's also 100% hypo-allergenic, meaning that it is safe for almost anyone as it won't react to your skin. Titanium is a white metal, often with a color richer than that of white gold or sterling silver, and you are most likely to find it in this style. A jeweler can oxidize the titanium, however, so that it displays a brilliant color, too.