Jewelry Metals

Metals for your Lifestyle

Let's talk about metals at Lauray's—because your ring's foundation is as important as its beauty. You've found the perfect diamond and the ideal setting style, and now it's time to consider the best metal for you.

With a range of precious and semi-precious gemstone options, including popular choices for men's wedding bands, aesthetics are important, but your lifestyle takes center stage when considering the foundational attributes of your ring. Are you always on the move, needing a resilient metal? Or do you have sensitive skin, requiring a hypoallergenic option like platinum?

Each metal has its distinct advantages and some have unique looks and applications for jewelry. Understanding the qualities of each type of jewelry metal can help ensure that the piece you select today will offer a lifetime of joy and satisfaction.

Gold

Gold has captivated mankind since the dawn of time. The Egyptians, the largest users of gold in the ancient world, equated gold with the sun and reserved its use exclusively for pharaohs.Gold’s popularity stems from its life-lasting durability and its variety of shades, making the metal appealing to everyone’s individual style.

Gold Purity

Pure gold, or 24-karat, is generally too soft for use in most jewelry, so gold is alloyed with other metals to increase its strength. In the United States, 14-karat gold is the most common jewelry alloy. A metal alloy is a metal made by combining two or more metals to increase the strength and/or resistance to corrosion of the base metal. The ratio of each component determines the properties of the alloy. Alloys can also create a variety of colors.

Yellow Gold

Yellow gold is popular for its recognizable yellow hue. Depending on the karat and the combination of alloys, yellow gold can have slightly varying shades; some yellow gold pieces can be a vibrant yellow, while others may be a more champagne-tone. Yellow gold consists of pure gold and metals such as silver, copper, nickel and zinc.

White Gold

White gold is a popular and more affordable white-metal option. White gold is created by alloying gold with nickel or palladium, zinc and copper. White gold alloys are never truly “white” in color, so most white gold jewelry is electroplated with rhodium, a platinum group metal.

It’s natural for white gold to fade and sometimes yellow due the thin coating of rhodium wearing off over time. If you want a truly white metal that won’t require any future re-plating, buy jewelry in platinum or palladium that is naturally pure white in color.

Platinum

Pure, rare, eternal – these qualities set platinum apart. In the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries, royalty in Europe and Hollywood stars discovered platinum and the metal has enjoyed a surge in popularity ever since, particularly among bridal jewelry buyers. One of the more expensive metal choices, platinum sets itself apart by its strength, purity and bright white shine.

Platinum’s strength surpasses both gold and silver and assures your most precious diamonds and gemstones will be protected and secured. Platinum is one of the strongest, most enduring and densest metals. In fact, a piece of jewelry containing 90-percent pure platinum weighs 60 percent more than a 14-karat gold piece of similar size.

Purity & Quality Marks

Platinum jewelry has a high level of purity that makes it naturally hypoallergenic, making it the perfect choice for people with sensitive skin. In the United States, platinum jewelry generally contains 85- to 95-percent pure platinum. By comparison, 14-karat gold is only 58.3-percent pure gold. Jewelry marked only “Platinum,” “Pt” or “Plat” contains at least 95-percent pure platinum. Platinum content can also be marked by 999 for 99.9% pure platinum, 950 for 95% and so on. In the U.S., jewelry containing less than 50-percent pure platinum cannot be marked with the word “Platinum” or any abbreviation thereof.

Durability

Platinum’s durability makes it ideal for wearing every day, as it sustains very little metal loss over a lifetime of wear. Over time, platinum jewelry will develop a natural “patina,” which can be returned to a bright, white shine with a simple repolishing.

Palladium

A platinum-group metal, palladium offers many of platinum’s benefits – bright white color, purity and strength – at a more affordable price. However, palladium is neither as rare nor as dense as platinum.

Material

Palladium jewelry alloys are very pure. Look for “950 Palladium,” which is 95-percent pure palladium usually mixed with five-percent ruthenium, or “900 Palladium,” which is mixed with 10-percent iridium.

Appearance

Unlike most white gold jewelry, palladium does not require plating to maintain its lustrous white color; palladium will not tarnish and is hypoallergenic.

Silver

From the ancient worlds of Byzantium and Egypt 4,000 years ago to the New World mines of Mexico and Peru during the 17th and 18th centuries, silver’s qualities have fascinated kings and conquerors throughout the ages. Today, sterling silver is a favorite metal for creative and innovative designers due to its affordability and malleability.

Purity & Quality Marks

In the United States, only jewelry that is at least 92.5% pure silver can be called or labeled “silver,” “sterling silver” or “sterling.” Sterling silver jewelry may also be marked with a 925, .925, 92.5 or “Ster” on the inside of the jewelry piece.

Durability

Silver is a naturally soft metal so it is alloyed with other metals, most commonly copper, to increase its strength and durability. While sterling jewelry can tarnish or darken in color, it will never rust. Because of the alloy, silver is durable enough for everyday wear.

Tarnishing

Unfortunately silver does tarnish when exposed to oxygen, which leaves a dark, black buildup. To combat this, store silver jewelry in an airtight ziplock bag. To slow the process down, use tarnish prevention strips when storing silver jewelry.

Regular polishing will easily remove the tarnish. Silver jewelry should be taken to your local jeweler annually for cleaning and to remove tarnish. The bright reflective luster of sterling will be restored with regular polishing and cleaning.

Ceramic

Ceramic, technically known as “high-tech ceramic,” marries high tech and high fashion. Ceramic jewelry is made of a material called titanium carbide (TIC), which is also used in space shuttle shields, and undergoes an exacting and polishing process.

Material

Ceramic is scratch-resistant, durable, lightweight and hypoallergenic, making it the perfect jewelry material for those who are active and style-conscience. It also doesn’t tarnish, oxidize or darken over time.

Appearance

High-tech ceramic jewelry is available in a range of colors including white, black, pastels and bold hues. It is often combined with other metals in finished pieces. Ceramic is a popular material for watches and in men’s jewelry, paired with other durable metals like tungsten carbide.

Precious Metal Clay

Appearing in the early 1990s in Japan, precious metal clay (or PMC) allows designers to create amazingly detailed jewelry items in a wide range of styles and prices.

Material

Precious metal clay consists of tiny particles of silver, gold or platinum mixed with an organic binder and water. This creates a pliable “clay” material that can be shaped into forms like soft clay. When heated to high temperatures, the organic binding compound burns away leaving the solid metal piece. It can then be worked like any piece of conventionally manufactured jewelry to create styles often unattainable or too costly to create using traditional methods.

Appearance

Jewelry made from precious metal clay is silver or gold, many times with intricate detailing because of the materials malleability.

Stainless Steel, Titanium & Tungsten Carbide

Offering affordable alternatives to precious metal, stainless steel, titanium and tungsten carbide jewelry have gained popularity mainly in men’s jewelry.

Material

These industrial metals have the benefits of being very strong, lightweight, hypoallergenic and scratch resistant, so they are well suited to active consumers who wear jewelry on a daily basis. When used in chain or link bracelets, the metals are less likely to break, making the need for repair infrequent.

Tungsten is considered the world’s hardest metal substance, ranking 8.0-9.0 on the Mohs Hardness Scale (diamonds are a 10.0). However, their strength also limits their applications; resizing rings is sometimes difficult, but many manufacturers will offer resizing services.

Appearance

All three metals share a steely gray appearance.

Enamel

Enamel adds a pop of color to any piece. Because enamel is fused onto another metal, it can range in pricing from cheaper metals to high-quality luxury pieces.