Precious Metals

 

Precious Metals

Choosing the material to use for your ring setting is about colour, strength and value:

 

Platinum

Platinum is the strongest precious metal, approximately 40% harder than 14kt gold, making it one of the most valuable precious metals. Platinum comes in a soft silvery hue, is resistant to damage, and is hypoallergenic.

 

Gold

Gold comes in three colours - Rose, Yellow and White. It has varying levels of purity: 24kt (100% pure), 18kt, 14kt, 10kt. Gold is soft, and often mixed with other metal alloy to make it more durable. 14 and 18kt gold are the most commonly used; 14kt gold will be stronger and harder than 18kt gold. The colour intensity will vary on rose and yellow gold, and the more pure gold content in the ring, the more intense the colour will be.

 

Silver

Silver is the most affordable precious metal. While it is a similar hue to platinum, it is less shiny and is a very soft metal, making it susceptible to scratches and bending. Silver also tarnishes (unless coated in rhodium), making it a more high-maintenance metal that requires frequent polishing. It is recommended not to wear silver in chlorine environments, or when using household cleaning products.