Materials & Care

Gold is a precious metal. It’s also the most malleable of all metals — so soft it can’t be used for jewelry in its purest form. The standard measurement of gold is the karat (K or kt). It should not be confused with the unit used to measure the weight of gems, also called “carat”. Pure gold is 24 karats, meaning 24 out of 24 parts are gold. To increase its strength for jewelry purpose, gold is combined with other metal alloys. - 18K gold is 18 parts gold and 6 parts other alloys - 14K gold is 14 parts gold and 10 parts other alloys - 10K gold is more durable, with 10 parts gold to 14 parts other alloys. Beside the karat hallmarks, you can also see markings like 999, 750, 583 or 417. - 999 is 99,99% pure gold (24K gold) - 750 gold means the metal is 75% pure gold, with 25% made up of another metal(s) (18Kgold) - 583 gold means the metal is 58,3% pure gold, the rest is alloys (14K gold) - 417 gold means the metal is 41,7% pure gold, the rest is alloys (10K gold) Yellow gold jewelry is still the most popular color, but today gold is available in a diverse palette. The process of alloying—mixing other metals with pure 24 karat gold—gives malleable gold more durability, but can also be used to change its color. White gold is created through alloying pure gold with white metals such as palladium or silver. In addition it is usually plated with rhodium to create a harder surface with a brighter shine and completely white shade. Rose gold is a blend of pure 24 karat yellow gold with an alloy of copper and silver.

Rhodium is a precious metal that is in the family of platinum. Rhodium is very rare as it is never found as a single mineral. Rhodium is usually used to plate over gold to get white gold. For rhodium plated jewelry, it involves plating the jewelry with a surface that guards against scratches that also gives a reflective white appearance. What are the benefits? There are many upsides to rhodium plated jewelry. First, it increases shine, luster and durability. Additionally, it will make your jewelry more resistant to scratches and if it's silver, less prone to tarnishing. Another popular benefit to rhodium plating is the fact that it makes your jewelry hypoallergenic. This is because it's nickel-free. So, if you have a nickel allergy, rhodium plating is a good option for you. In our jewelry we use rhodium plating to get a traditional white gold color and black rhodium plating to get black/ grey color. What is the different between white gold and rhodium? Gold is a metal that has an intense yellow color in nature while rhodium is white. Since gold never exist in white color, we need to cast gold with an alloy (for white gold) to get a less yellow color gold, then coat this gold with rhodium to get a total white color.

Silver and sterling silver (silver 925) are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they do not always mean the same thing. Silver is pure silver, also referred to as fine silver, has actual silver content of 99.99%. Because of its high purity, fine silver is too soft to use in jewelry making and is often mixed with other metals to make it harder. Sterling silver (silver 925) has a purity of 92.5%, meaning that 7.5% of the alloy is made of copper or another metal.

Although most gemstones are mineral materials, a number of organic materials are also considered to be gemstones. The most common of these are pearl, mother of pearl, coral, shell, amber, bone and ivory. These are materials, produced by organisms, that have been cut into gems and other ornamental objects. PEARL The most valuable pearls are natural pearls, they occur spontaneously in the wild, without human help of any kind and are extremely rare. Cultured or farmed pearls are pearls grown requiring human intervention and care. These pearls make up the majority (more than 99%) of those currently sold. Cultured pearls which are grown in oceans and seas are called salt water pearls. Fresh water pearl refers to those are grown in lakes or rivers. There are four major types of cultured pearls: Akoya Pearls have white or cream colors and are harvested in the Akoya oysters. They are the most familiar type of saltwater cultured pearl. Japan and China both produce akoya cultured pearls. There are some pearl farms operated in Vietnam sea area. South Sea Pearls can be white to silver or golden, depending on the type of oyster. Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are leading sources of these saltwater cultured pearls. Tahitian Pearls Cultivated primarily around the islands of French Polynesia (the most familiar of these is Tahiti). These saltwater cultured pearls, sometimes referred to as black pearls, have a wide color range. They might be gray, black or brown, and they can have blue, green, purple or pink overtones. Freshwater Cultured Pearls are usually cultured in freshwater lakes and ponds, often with many pearls grown in one oyster. Freshwater cultured pearls are the most commonly produced pearls and they are one of the most popular pearl types. This is due to their remarkable range of sizes, shapes and colors, plus their commercial availability at lower price points. China is the leading source for freshwater cultured pearls. MOTHER OF PEARL Pearls and mother of pearl are made of the same substance: nacre. It is most commonly found in three types of mollusks—pearl oysters, freshwater mussels, and abalone. Mother of pearl is the nacre being formed on the inner linings of a shell. A pearl, on the other hand, is created when a foreign object enters the shell and the mollusk encases the foreign object in order to protect itself. SHELL Shell is a material cut from sea snail shells, clams (bivalves), shells of non-marine mollusks such as the shells of freshwater mollusks.

Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·nH2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. This can be seen easily if you have jewelry set with opal, especially crystal opal, that sometime they become too opaque or too transparent depends on the ambient humidity. Opal hues can range across the spectrum. An opal might display a single color, two or three colors, or all the colors of the rainbow. Opal displays background color in addition to play-of-color. Background color—also called bodycolor—is caused by the suspension of tiny impurities within opal’s silica spheres. Opals are often divided into types based on background color. Even though there are many different categories for opals, here are the main five types: Black opal Black opal is the most rare and highly valued form of opal, and has what is called a black (or dark) body tone. If it is black or near-black, it is called a black opal. Opal with a dark, but not black body tone, is referred to as dark opal. White opal (light opal/ milky opal) White opal is opal with a light body tone with play-of-color. The colours in precious light opal have a beautiful soft, pastel quality. The lightest of light opal is also sometimes called white or milky opal. Crystal opal Crystal opal is transparent to semitransparent with a clear background: if you hold it up to the light, some light will pass through. It doesn’t have a crystalline structure like amethyst or diamond – it’s called ‘crystal’ simply because its translucency or transparency resembles that of crystalline materials such rock crystal or glass. Fire opal Fire opal is transparent to translucent with a bodycolor that is usually yellow, orange or red. This material, which might show play-of-color, is also known in the trade as “Mexican opal” or “Mexican fire opal”. Boulder opal Boulder opal is opal cut with a natural backing of host rock. If the opal is in a thin layer on dark ironstone, it looks rich in color and dark in body tone, like black opal. Sometimes opal is distributed in thin, irregular veins throughout the ironstone. This is called boulder matrix.