Jewellery Metals
Precious Metals
Gold
Gold
is a yellow coloured precious metal. Gold is a soft metal and is, for
the vast majority of jewellery, alloyed with other metals. Pure gold is
yellow and 24ct gold is too soft for most jewellery applications.
Rose Gold, Red Gold or Pink Gold
Rose Gold, also sold as red gold or pink gold is a pinkish or reddish coloured gold. The reddish tinge is due to the copper content in the alloy.
White Gold
White Gold is gold alloyed with silver coloured metals such as nickel or palladium. Sometimes white gold is plated with rhodium, which gives it a shine, as the alloy can be a dullish yellow/grey. This plating may wear in time depending on the level of wear.
Carat (or Karat)
Carat = 200 milligrams and is used to measure the weight of gold, precious and semi-precious gemstones and pearls. The abbreviation is ct. US spelling is karat and the abbreviation used is kt.
Carat measurements indicate the content or fineness of gold in the metal alloy.
9ct Gold 37.5% pure gold (375)
14ct Gold 58.5% pure gold (585)
18ct Gold 75% pure gold (750)
22ct Gold 91.6% pure gold (916)
Other recognised finenesses of gold in the U.K. are 99% (990) and 99.9% (999)
10ct is not a recognised value in U.K. hallmarks.
Silver
Silver is a grey coloured precious metal. Like gold, silver is a soft metal and is often alloyed with other metals.
Sterling Silver - minimum silver content of 92.5% (925)
Britannia Silver minimum silver content of 95.8% (958)
Fine Silver - minimum silver content of 99.9% Silver (999)
Other recognised finenesses of silver in the U.K. are 80% (800)
Karen Hill Silver
Karen Hill Silver is made by the Karen Hill Tribe in Thailand and is sometimes confused with Bali and Tibetan silver. Karen Hill silver has a high silver content, the fineness ranging from 95% to 99%.
Tibetan Silver & Bali Silver
Some items described as Bali Silver and Tibetan Silver have very little to no silver content at all; some may even contain lead, nickel and arsenic. Some factories have flooded the market with beads described as Tibetan and Bali silver, this is a pity as some items are genuine. If it looks cheap and/or is cheap ... it's a case of buyer beware!
Vermeil
Vermeil is Sterling Silver plated with Gold, this is usually a thicker plating than normal gold plating.
Plated Metals
Vermeil
Vermeil is Sterling Silver plated with Gold, this is usually a thicker plating than normal gold plate.
Gold, Silver and Rhodium Plate
Items that are plated with silver, rhodium or gold are of another metal, in jewellery often copper or brass, that has been (usually) electroplated with real silver or gold.
Rolled Gold
Rolled Gold is a thin layer of gold laminated to a base metal, its usually a thicker layer of gold than gold plating.
Gold Filled
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Hallmarking
Items may be exempt from hallmarking due to weighing less than:
1 gram for Gold
7.78 grams for Silver
0.5 grams for Platinum
Items may be exempt due to having been tested and hallmarked in a country signed up to the International Convention on Hallmarking and bears the convention Common Control Mark. Items may also be exempt if it bears other European hallmarks considered to be of the equivalent guarantee to consumers, these must contain a sponsors/makers mark, fineness mark and an assay office mark.
Items stamped with just the numbers 925 and similar are not hallmarked.
The assay office will test the item of jewellery for it's precious metal content before hallmarking. There are 3 compulsary marks that an assay office will apply:
Sponsors Mark
This is a unique mark of the individual or company who sends the item to the assay office. The sponsor could be anyone from the maker to the retailer.
Standard Mark
This mark is to show the purity or fineness of the metal.
Assay Office Mark
This mark denotes which Assay Office tested and marked the item.
Birmingham - Anchor
Edinburgh - Castle
London - Leopard's head
Sheffield - Yorkshire Rose
Metal Fineness or Purity
Carat measurements indicate the content or fineness of gold in the metal alloy.
9ct Gold 37.5% pure gold (375)
14ct Gold 58.5% pure gold (585)
18ct Gold 75% pure gold (750)
22ct Gold 91.6% pure gold (916)
Other recognised finenesses of gold in the U.K. are 99% (990) and 99.9% (999)
10ct is not a recognised value in U.K. hallmarks.
Silver Content
Britannia Silver minimum silver content of 95.8% (958)
Fine Silver - minimum silver content of 99.9% Silver (999)
Other recognised finenesses of silver in the U.K. are 80% (800)
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