Metals Guide
Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver is an alloy of silver and other metals, usually copper. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver with the remaining 7.5% being other metals. As pure silver is generally too soft for manufacturing into larger objects and for everyday wear, copper is generally used to give it strength while at the same time preserving the ductility of the metal and its beauty.
Vermeil (Gold Plate)
Vermeil is a French word, now commonly used in the English language mostly in America. It became a popular term in the 19th century as an alternative to the term silver-gilt. Vermeil is a combination of Sterling Silver with a layer of gold on top. To be considered vermeil, the gold must be at least 10ct and be at least 1.5micrometres thick. Any other metal plated onto Sterling Silver cannot be called vermeil. Vermeil can be produced by fire gilding or electrolysis. Fire gilding is an antiquated process however and most vermeil these days is produced by way of electrolysis.
Rhodium
Rhodium is a highly reflective precious metal (more valuable than gold and platinum) used to plate white gold and silver jewellery. It is very hard wearing metal and does not tarnish. It is important to be aware that rhodium plating will not last forever and that on jewellery that is worn a lot eg. rings, they may have to be replated.
Yellow Gold
Gold is graded by carats. The carat system for gold, unlike diamonds, is a method of expressing the proportion of gold to other metals in a particular alloy. Pure gold is 24ct. 22ct gold contains 22 parts of gold to 2 parts of other metals, while 9ct gold contains 9 parts of gold to 15 parts of other metals. The colour of pure gold is a metallic yellow. However, copper and silver are the principal metals used for gold alloy, though zinc, cadmium, iron and aluminium are also used. The refiner's problem is to reach a satisfactory compromise between working qualities and colour for each different carat quality.
Rose Gold
Gold is graded by carats. The carat system for gold, unlike diamonds, is a method of expressing the proportion of gold to other metals in a particular alloy. Pure gold is 24ct. 22ct gold contains 22 parts of gold to 2 parts of other metals, while 9ct gold contains 9 parts of gold to 15 parts of other metals. Rose gold is the result of varying the proportions of copper and silver in the alloy, which results in a beautiful pinkish hue.
