Posts Tagged ‘precious metal’

Jewelry has defined womanhood ever since the inception of civilization. Starting from shells adornment of prehistoric time followed by precious metal and gemstone jewelry of opulent princely age to contemporary style centric jewelry of today, ornaments have evolved through the ages.

The Trend Today

New trends in jewelry keep emerging to suit the changing preferences and lifestyles of its wearers. Till sometime back, only jewelry shaped out of precious metals like gold and platinum, and valuable stones such as diamonds were worn by women. Now however, the scenario has changed. Women now look at jewelry as a style statement rather than a status symbol. They choose jewelry that complements their outfit and personality rather than going for traditionally preferred Gold jewelry. More so, even in gold women now opt for offbeat designs that are more contemporary and suitable to working environment.

Factors Contributing to the rise of Faux Jewelry

• With the prices of gold increasing dramatically in recent years, women have started opting for the low-cost and trendier costume and imitation jewelry.
• Women now see Jewelry as an accessory, not as an investment. They know that there are far better investment alternatives. They look at jewelry as a fashion accessory that they can replace with trendier stuff after they get bored with it, without carrying the guilt of having spent thousands of dollars on each piece.
• With an increasing number of women working outside their homes, there is a growing demand for variety in jewelry for everyday wear. Faux jewelry has emerged as an alternative to fulfill this demand.
• Attractive and affordable imitation jewelry is available in market at increasingly affordable prices that vary according to the quality and brand. For those who like fine jewelry, options are available in Swarovski crystals and Gold plated metal base.
• Faux Jewelry is more versatile in its wearability, than the traditional jewelry. Whether it is a boardroom meeting, a romantic evening, a wedding reception or a day at the beach, faux jewelry is the answer.
• Expensive jewelry might hype the social prestige but wearing them everyday to the working place might not be safe. Hence faux jewelry is a more secure option for working women.

When it comes to jewelry, a woman’s appetite is insatiable. Classy and fashionable imitation jewelry in faux gold, crystals, semi-precious stones, multicoloured beads, artificial pearls and man-made diamonds offer variety that far surpasses the glittering glory of gold ornaments. Further more, these ornaments can safely be bought online through shopping sites from different corners of the world, hence giving women an opportunity to wear jewelry styles from a variety of cultures. With all these advantages of wearing imitation jewelry, no wonder women are saying- ‘Move away Gold…..Faux jewelry is here.’

Shveta Singh is associated with CarmaWorld.com, an exclusive online shopping site for Indian home and lifestyle products such as jewelry, sarees, stoles, scarves, handicrafts, gifts, handbags and home furnishings. Do visit http://www.CarmaWorld.com for an exquisite collection of faux jewelry, costume jewelry and fashion jewelry.

Author: Shveta Singh
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Gold

Gold is the most popular jewelry metal for men’s and women’s wedding and engagement rings, and is also customarily used in the crafting of earrings, pendants, brooches, necklaces and bracelets. Gold is a highly valuable metal, and is one of the most coveted metals in all of history. Gold symbolizes riches, wealth, and good standing, and in its purest form, is impossible to tarnish. Gold jewelry is sophisticated and refined, and is a divine and precious metal that is perfect for all occasions.

Pure (24-karat) gold can sometimes be too soft and malleable for everyday wear. Therefore, gold jewelry is usually complemented by a mixture of other alloyed metals (such as silver, copper, nickel and zinc) to help it retain more resistance and strength. While purer gold’s are rarer and more exotic, they are oftentimes prone to being bent or twisted. Since other alloying metals are employed to build gold jewelry’s resistance, gold then becomes more likely to stain or to tarnish. Pure gold can never tarnish, but in gold pieces that are mixed with components of nickel, slight discoloration may occur over time, and it is possible for the gold compound to leave a dark residue on the skin. When purchasing gold jewelry, it is best to stick to the higher karat gold. If the gold jewelry is to be worn everyday, make sure it is between 14-18 karat gold. (The karat measurement denotes what percentage of the gold jewelry is made of pure gold. For example, 18k gold is 18/24 real gold, or 75% pure gold.)

Silver

Silver is perhaps one of the most popular jewelry metals because it is much more abundant in nature and therefore more affordable than its competitor metals. Sterling silver, which is 92.5% pure silver, is the best quality of silver metal for setting precious stones and adorning fancy jewelry.

Silver can tarnish rather easily and is less durable than other jewelry metals such as gold and platinum. Silver in its purest form is even softer than pure gold, so finer quality silvers are not always appropriate for everyday wear. Silver can also be prone to oxidation, sometimes causing slight discoloration and blackening of the metal. Luckily, it is easy to make silver jewelry look brand new again by simply purchasing a silver jewelry cleaning solution at little cost (which can be found in most department stores).

White Gold

White Gold a greater percentage of nickel in a gold metal alloy mixture gives white gold its color, while a higher percentage of copper will turn gold a more reddish hue, resulting in ‘rose gold.’ White gold is simply gold that has been chemically treated and then coated with another white medal called Rhodium. Rhodium metal has similar properties to platinum and gives white gold its pristine color and shine.

While white gold is a very hard metal thanks in part to its Rhodium coating, it does wear eventually. To keep a white gold ring from fading and loosing its luster, you should get your white gold jewelry re-Rhodium-plated approximately once a year or at least every 18 months. Most local jewelers can re-coat white gold jewelry at a cost effective price.

Platinum

Platinum is a clean, sharp- looking jewelry metal, and is second to none in terms of durability. Platinum is so strong that it is impossible to tarnish and it has the highest melting point of the popular jewelry metals. Platinum jewelry is generally composed of 90% platinum and 10% iridium. The innate strength of this metal makes platinum the ideal choice for setting precious stones.

While platinum is the best in terms of toughness and can outlive its rival jewelry metals in terms of appearance and strength, it is important to consider its price. Platinum is rarer, more durable, and therefore, more expensive, than gold. With all other things being equal, a platinum ring will cost approximately twice the price of a white gold ring of 18 karats. It is, however, a prime material for the careful crafting of wedding rings.

Palladium

Palladium is harder, lighter, and less expensive than platinum. It is a close substitute in look and feel, and palladium jewelry can endure the perils of everyday wear and tear and come out spotless.

While Palladium aims to imitate platinum, it cannot truly fool anyone. Palladium metal lacks the prestigious ‘platinum’ insignia; marked on the inside rim of every platinum jewelry piece will be a small stamped engraving bearing the word: ‘plat.’ So if you are looking to trick someone into thinking you have purchased ‘the real thing’, it might be more difficult to do so than you had previously imagined.

Titanium

Titanium is the hardest naturally-occurring metal in the world. This makes titanium the perfect metal for fine jewelry, especially rings. Titanium is three times as strong as steel, yet maintains a light and comfortable weight. Titanium jewelry will not bend, scratch or dent. Most importantly, pure titanium jewelry is 100% hypoallergenic, meaning that it will not cause allergic reactions and is safe for anyone to wear.

The one and only foreseeable downside to purchasing titanium jewelry is that it cannot be soldered, rendering it impossible to re-size a ring made of the substance.

Natalie Inger

Handmade jewelry

Author: Natalie Inger
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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It takes many years of experience in trading sterling silver jewelry to tell whether a piece of jewelry is of high quality or not. Especially when you are buying wholesale silver jewelry, a minor difference in the quality might affect your business reputation in the long run. This article summarizes the basic metrics for anyone who is beginning to trade silver jewelry to gauge the quality of silver jewelry.

Finishing

Most of the sterling silver jewelry has some sort of plating because silver itself turns yellow over time. There are several ways of finishing a piece of silver jewelry and they will affect the cost of the jewelry substantially.

1. High polished sterling silver jewelry has no plating on the jewelry at all and is particularly popular with engravable items or for people who are allergic to certain metals such as nickel. The jewelry is polished by machine without additional raw material cost.

2. Some silver jewelry has a black antique look to cater to certain consumers. These items are processed by putting the jewelry into chemical solution to oxide the silver before polishing and the pricing is similar to that of high polished ones.

3. Another common way of finishing sterling silver jewelry is nickel plating. Although nickel plating is illegal in some countries, most of the Italian silver jewelry sold in the market today is plated with nickel. However, since nickel is not considered as precious metal, the price is usually not affected by the cost of plating.

4. The most expensive way of finishing sterling silver jewelry is using Rhodium. Rhodium is a precious metal that is even more expensive than silver. Therefore, silver jewelry with Rhodium plating is usually at least five cent more expensive per gram. Since Rhodium has the property of being highly tarnish resistant and very expensive at the same time, some manufacturers would coat the sterling silver jewelry with a thin layer of copper before plating the Rhodium to reduce the cost. It might be a good idea to ask the vendors if the Rhodium is plated directly or not because some people have skin type that would turn the copper underneath green.

Stone cutting

Sterling silver jewelry usually has natural or synthetic stones set on it. The cutting of the stones, even with the same size, might affect the cost. For instance, the synthetic diamond cubic zirconia stones would cost more if they are in princess cut as suppose to round brilliant cut. Furthermore, emerald cut and baguette cut stones are even more expensive than princess cut ones.

Stone setting

1. The way that stones are set on a piece of jewelry also affects the cost. Many pendant and bracelet styles employ an economical setting method called wax setting. The stones are not really set one by one on the jewelry. Rather, they are fixed on the mold before the jewelry is cast out from the melted silver and come out of the mold together with the silver. This lowers the cost of the silver jewelry significantly. However, the quality of the setting is not consistent and the heat of the silver in liquid form might affect the quality of the stones.

2. Besides wax setting, there are several hand-setting methods that are widely adopted. The most common one is prong setting, where the stones are held in place by three to eight prongs, depending on the style. More advanced settings include channel setting, bezel setting, pave setting and invisible setting. Understanding the labor costs involved in different kinds of settings is one of the keys to getting merchandize with the best prices.

Stamping and Casting

Another categorization for sterling silver jewelry is the way they manufacture the metal part. To save cost, some jewelry is made by stamping and cutting the needed shapes out from a large sheet of silver and than bend it into the desired shapes. On the other hand, a more traditional way of producing sterling silver jewelry is to cast the metal out of a mold, which is more labor intensive and hence more costly due to the polishing and filing required afterwards. The way the jewelry is made affects the durability a great deal and hence the success of your business.

Greg Peterson got his MBA from MIT business school and is now working as marketing manager for jewelry businesses featuring wholesale silver hip hop jewelry.

Author: Greg Peterson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Gold necklaces have always been a favorite with women, for the simple reason that these can create an instant buzz no matter what outfit you wear them with. A nicely crafted gold necklace can add to the style statement you are trying to make. While some women prefer comparatively thin necklaces with pendants, there are others who like to go the whole nine yards with chokers.

Most people like to select gold necklaces according to their style and make. Some of the most popular styles that are repeatedly in vogue include gold heart necklaces, gold circle necklaces, gold cross necklaces and Italian fancy necklaces. As you can get gold necklaces in different sizes, styles and colors, you can easily pair the jewelry with the outfit of your choice and turn up looking regal and elegant.

Gold necklaces are expensive. So, you need to keep certain things in mind before you make a purchase.

When it comes to gold, cautious buying always helps. The price of gold has touched an all time high. So, more and more people are investing in the precious metal. Unfortunately, there is also an increase in the number of fraudsters who are out there to make some quick dough. This is particularly true of online gold stores. Many of these fakes are made so cleverly that they look real and have the weight of gold. The hapless consumer realizes their mistake only when the gold pain starts fading.

When buying gold necklaces online, do business with a trusted name. Identify a reputed retailer who has been in the gold business for some time. Check out the store’s delivery and return policies. There must be enough security in these policies for consumers to shop without fear.

When choosing a necklace, you must take three things into consideration: beauty, durability and practical use. If you are choosing the necklace for occasional wear, you may select a more delicate necklace. However, if you believe that you will be using your gold necklace quite often, then select something sturdy. 14k gold is the best choice because it is strong and has a rich color. Also, go for a style that facilitates easy and quick cleaning. You don’t want to be stuck with impossible-to-reach nooks and folds that collect dirt like magnet and refuse to let go.

It is recommended that you buy designs that suit your age. While younger women can choose from funky styles, older women may find these a little loud. For them, there are a number of classic styles that look rich and elegant, without becoming obnoxious.

Always check the clasp of your necklace. It must be easy to wear and sturdy. Besides, the clasp is also a great indicator of purity because fake gold wears out at the clasp.

Gold necklaces are a great investment, both for their value and their beauty. The sheer variety makes it an interesting buy. Besides, you can mix and match necklaces with different pendants and lockets and come out with combinations that look great.

At BeeJewels.com, our dramatically stylish gold necklaces add a touch of the exotic to any look. Buy Italian & yellow gold heart necklaces for men & women at great prices.

Author: Tariq Ansari
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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