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Gold Alloys

When you’re looking for gold jewelry with our custom jewelry designer in Seattle and Bellevue, you have many options available. This is because of the various gold alloys that can go into a piece of jewelry.

Most jewelry is produced from gold alloys. These types of pieces are commonly referred to as 14 KT, 18 KT, 22 KT or 24 KT Gold jewelry. This shouldn't be confused with gold-plated jewelry because that is usually a much cheaper, lower grade kind of alloy. As you may know, an ounce of pure gold can be quite expensive. While prices fluctuate from day to day, an ounce of gold can easily cost more than $1,000. Also, pure gold is easy to abrade, dent and scratch. For all of these reasons, gold alloys have become the preferred, more affordable option for all types of gold jewelry.

Gold Alloys Are the Solution

Since pure gold isn’t an ideal material for jewelry, gold alloys are produced instead. They are stronger, more durable, and generally cost considerably less than pure gold. Most people would agree that this is a much better deal. Karats are the units used to describe the amount of gold relative to other metals that make up any given piece of jewelry. The higher the karat, the more gold there is in the alloy.

Choosing the Right Gold Alloy

Choosing the right gold alloy can be a challenge, especially if you don't know much about jewelry. But even if that's the case, don't worry - this section will be your guide and help you make better decisions when making the selection. As a general rule of thumb, always ask yourself a few preliminary questions when browsing through gold alloy jewelry: How often will I wear my jewelry? Realize that the alloys that combine gold and other stronger metals are more durable and will likely survive the bumps and falls that they will inevitably encounter in daily wear.

What color should I select? Depending on how pure you want your gold alloy jewelry to be, you will have a large variety of colors to choose from. Black, white, yellow, pink, rose, purple, and green are a few of the colors that you can choose from. Keep in mind, though, that the amount of gold in the alloy will ultimately determine the color of your jewelry.

How will the gold alloy react to my body? Some gold alloys tend to blacken or even turn green when exposed to skin, especially when they are gold-plated. Although some people are convinced that they are allergic to gold, the truth is that gold is one of the least allergenic metals available.

• How often will I wear my jewelry? Realize that the alloys that combine gold and other stronger metals are more durable and will likely survive the bumps and falls that they will inevitably encounter in daily wear.
• What color should I select? Depending on how pure you want your gold alloy jewelry to be, you will have a large variety of colors to choose from.White, yellow, pink, rose, and green are a few of the colors that you can choose from. Keep in mind, though, that the amount of gold in the alloy will ultimately determine the color of your jewelry
• How will the gold alloy react to my body? Some gold alloys tend to blacken or even turn green when exposed to skin, especially when they are gold-plated. Although some people are convinced that they are allergic to gold, the truth is that gold is one of the least allergenic metals available. Allergic reactions to gold alloys will usually only occur when there is nickel present in the alloy. Other than that, very few allergic reactions occur because of contact with gold alloys.

Final Thoughts

Pure gold is yellow, and since the majority of gold alloys are at least thirty-three percent gold, they will usually retain their yellowish tint. Remember that it doesn't always have to shine, glisten, or sparkle to be gold. Copper happens to be one of the only other metals that can produce rose, pink, and red gold alloys. Most yellow gold alloys that you see today also contain copper and zinc. As you can see, gold alloys are not incredibly complex to understand. They are simply alloys with a certain amount of gold in them. And as long as you follow the guidelines above, you should have no trouble finding gold alloy jewelry that suits your needs.