Metals
Gold
Pure gold is a rich, warm, golden yellow colour. It is far too soft when pure to be used in wearable items so is usually alloyed with other metals. This not only affects its durability but also allows a range of colours of gold to be available. See the separate Rose Gold and White Gold sections for more information about these beautiful alloys of gold. Gold is weighed using carats which indicate its purity, meaning how much gold there is in the composition of the alloy. We use 9ct and 18ct gold most often; 9ct gold is typically 37.5% or more pure gold and the other percentage is made up of other metals such as silver, copper, nickel, and zinc which increase the strength and modify the colour of the alloy. 18ct gold is typically 75% pure gold and the other percentage is made up of other metals. Pure gold would be 24ct gold which is generally too soft and easily damaged to be practical when making jewellery. Like all metals, varieties of gold need their own special care and more information on this can be found on our care for your jewellery page.
Hallmarking
Precious metal items made in the UK must by law be hallmarked if weighing over 7.78g for silver or over 1g for gold. This hallmark guarantees the purity of the metal for the customer. We send all of our handmade pieces of precious jewellery over the weight limit to the London assay office where they test them for purity. Then they stamp the hallmark onto each of our items. The mark consists of a metal mark (eg silver), a metal purity mark, a stamp to identify the assay office and all of this is accompanied by our maker's mark which is like our trademark (in our case it is HK which represents Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design Ltd - our sister company). It is amazing to think how much information is written on this tiny stamp! You can read more detail about hallmarking and how it works on the Birmingham Assay Office's website (as it is a much better site than the London one!).
Rose Gold
We often use rose gold as it has such a beautiful and rose-pink colour which suits many skin tones - particularly people with a little auburn or red in their hair colour. The reddish-pink tone comes from the larger proportion of copper that is added to the alloy of gold. See the gold section for more general information about gold. Like all metals, varieties of gold need their own special care and more information on this can be found on our care for your jewellery page.
Click here to view rose gold jewellery.
Stainless Steel
We often use nylon coated stainless steel thread. This has a very delicate appearance but is actually very strong indeed as its core is several twisted strands of stainless steel which is much stronger than silver or gold. It is very comfortable to wear but doesn't cut, due to the nylon coating. Items made from this should always be stored flat, hung alone from a jewellery hook, or kept in their box. It will kink if pinched or folded over and these kinks cannot be removed without re-stringing. The standard length is approximately 16-17 inches but slight variations may occur.
Click here to see jewellery that includes stainless steel.
Sterling Silver
Silver has been sought after for hundreds of years and was once as highly valued as gold. It occurs mostly in massive form as nuggets or grains and can be found in parts of the USA, South America, Australia, Norway and the former USSR. Pure silver is too soft to be used for jewellery and wearable items so it is often alloyed with other metals to increase its durability. Sterling silver is 92.5% pure silver - this is alloyed with other metals such as copper. Silver jewellery weighing over 5g and made in the UK should have a stamped British hallmark to guarantee purity. Silver is more reactive than gold and reacts when exposed to oxygen in the air and a layer of silver oxide (called tarnish) forms on the surface of the silver, but this can easily be cleaned away. All silver items do require some looking after to prevent from tarnishing and becoming too scratched and damaged, there is lots of really useful information on silver care on our care for your jewellery page.
Click here to view sterling silver jewellery.
White Gold
White gold is an alloy of gold with white metals such as platinum and paladium - so the white colour it is due to the various metals mixed with pure gold in its composition. The more white metals that are added, for example, then the whiter the colour that the gold will be. The percentage of gold in its alloy does still mean that it has a warmer colour than silver or platinum. It is a lovely warm soft white colour - not quite as bright white as silver or platinum but definitely white and not yellow. White gold is often electroplated with another metal called rhodium to make the white colour brighter - see the separate section on rhodium plating for more information on this. See the gold section for more information about gold. Like all metals, varieties of gold need their own special care and more information on this can be found on our care for your jewellery page.
Click here to view white gold jewellery.
White Gold (with Rhodium Plating)
White gold is an alloy of gold with white metals such as platinum and paladium - so the white colour is due to the various metals mixed with pure gold in its composition. The more white metals that are added, for example, then the whiter the colour that the gold will be. The percentage of gold in its alloy does still mean that it has a warmer colour than silver or platinum. Jewellers frequently apply rhodium to the surface of white gold to give it a similar colour to platinum. Rhodium is also slightly harder than gold but applying rhodium plating to gold does not have a significant effect to the durability of the underlying metal. During an electroplating process, a thin layer of rhodium is applied onto the surface of the gold. We often prefer the natural colours of white gold but do apply rhodium plating to some of our pieces to enhance the design. It does wear off over time but can be easily re-applied by any good jeweller. Like all metals, varieties of gold need their own special care and more information on this can be found on our care for your jewellery page.
Click here to view white gold (with rhodium plating) jewellery.
Yellow Gold
This is an alloy of gold where the alloying metals try not to interfere much with the natural colour of pure gold. It is important to mix pure gold with other metals (i.e. make an alloy) because pure gold is too soft to use for jewellery. The other metals in the alloy increase the hardness and durability. So the art of alloying yellow gold well is to keep the alloy as rich and yellow as possible whilst increasing the durability. See the gold section for more information about gold. Like all precious metals, gold needs its own special care and more information on this can be found out in our care for your jewellery page.
Click here to view yellow gold jewellery.
