wedding rings - precious metal details

Precious Metal Details

Harriet and her team work in three types of precious metal - silver, gold and platinum.

Silver

Mined by pre-historic man, silver is a lovely blue/white colour and a relatively inexpensive choice for an engagement ring. Harriet and her team only work in Sterling silver which is 925 parts in a 1000 - in other words at least 92.5% pure silver - most imported silver (from places such as India) is far more impure than this and so very brittle. Silver is more prone to corrosion than gold, for example it will react with sea water, so is not really ideal for setting valuable stones.

Yellow Gold

Mined since before 4000 bc, the Egyptians were the main producers in the ancient world, but at one time or another many countries have been large producers, especially in the new world. Pure gold (24 carat) is a very soft metal and not ideal for jewellery, so it is normally alloyed with other metals such as zinc to add hardness. 9 carat gold is 9 parts in 24 (or 37.5%) pure gold, while 18ct is 18 parts in 24. 9ct gold is a paler yellow colour as compared with richer 18ct gold, but either is a lovely yellow colour and the classic choice for wedding rings.

White Gold

This is yellow gold that has been alloyed with other metals such as silver, palladium and platinum to give it a warm white coloured metal. A very popular choice at the moment, 18ct white gold is more of a 'gun metal' colour than 9ct which is a slightly yellowy white.

Fully certified fair trade and fair mined white gold is available in certain shapes.

Rhodium Plating

Rhodium is pure metal that can be plated on top of white gold to give it a steely white platinum like appearance. This is a good way to achieve a platinum looking ring without the extra expense of using platinum. However this plating will wear off over time to reveal the more yellowy coloured white gold underneath. The speed at which this wearing takes place can vary hugely between people, from only a few months to several years. However it is simple and cheap to have a ring re-rhodium plated and Harriet or any jeweller are always happy to do this.

Rose Gold

Gold that is alloyed with copper is called rose gold. The 9ct alloy is a beautiful pinky colour and very popular whereas 18ct rose gold is a much darker metal similar in colour to 'old gold' (22ct) yellow gold.

Platinum

The most expensive and hard wearing of the precious metals and a wonderful contemporary steely-white colour. The combination of diamond and platinum in an engagement ring is a wonderful sight and unsurpassed in brilliance.

Palladium

Similar to platinum in appearance though much less expensive! It is much less dense than platinum though, so it feels lighter on the hand - if you are looking for a chunky ring in platinum it will feel quite solid on the hand - if it was in palladium it would feel less dense. Environmentally, it's not bad. Palladium is generally extracted as a byproduct of other mining, and along with platinum is mainly used in catalytic converters. The amaount we use in the jewellery industry is tiny compared to this. As of July 2009 the palladium hallmark is available from the assay office.

Finishes

A wedding ring can be finished in various different way. Many of them will wear over time but can easily be re-applied by us or any jeweller. The satinised finish in particular can wear very quickly to a dull shine.

Here is a list of the finishes that we offer:

Polished
Satin/Brushed
Rhodium Plated
Hammered
Pin End/Moon Dust
Beaded
Tunstall/Crushed Diamond
Ripple
Wood Grain
Roman
Fake Pave

Wedding Rings Precious Metals