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Village Jeweler by Borrego Goldsmith, Inc. a Arizona Corporation doing business in beautiful Village of Oak Creek  Sedona, Arizona

Village Jeweler
a full service jeweler in Sedona, Arizona
100 Verde Valley School Road, Suite #108
Weber’s IGA - Village Crossing Shopping Center
Sedona, Arizona 86351
Tel: (928) 239-9361
www.VillageJeweler.biz       To Email, please click here.

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Heavy Metals

By Jewelry & Gemology Guru,
DeNise Bowers, Village Jeweler, Sedona, Arizona

Practically all metals have at one time or another been used in jewelry. Since antiquity, gold, silver, copper, bronze, and even lead, have been used as pendants, rings, earrings and bracelets.

Some of these metals have been used without any problems to the person wearing them, other metals have caused problems from turning your skin green or itchy to a bumpy rash, and even to severe health problems and death - as in lead poisoning. While lead is no longer used - or not supposed to be used anyway - there are still some reactions or allergies that some people will have to jewelry for various reasons due the metals that are used.

Starting with gold, I think that we are all aware of the different karats of gold, meaning the different purities.
14 Karat gold is about 58% pure gold, and the rest has another metal mixed in, to make the gold harder and more durable, or a different color like white gold, rose gold, green gold, or even different shades of yellow with names like rich yellow, royal yellow and so on. 18 karat gold is 75% pure gold and can come with the same color varieties, as can all the various gold karats.

There are purple and blue gold’s which are alloyed with aluminum or indium to create the color, they are however somewhat brittle. There is green gold which is alloyed with silver to create a somewhat greenish yellow, or sometimes is alloyed with cadmium to make a dark green color. Cadmium however is toxic. There is a grey gold which is alloyed with a mixture of gold, silver, manganese and copper.

The properties of gold, that is the hardness, the malleability, the casting properties, and even the brittleness, will vary greatly depending on the other metals used in alloying, and the karat purity.

When someone has a problem wearing yellow gold it is most likely a reaction to the copper which is used as an alloy in yellow gold. The higher the karat, the lower the amount of copper, and the less likely there is for a problem. The redder the gold, the more copper it has. Even sterling silver is alloyed with copper to make it harder.

White gold is made with gold mixed with a bit of nickel and zinc. The problem with this, is that some people have an allergy to nickel and it would make a red skin rash and irritation. It is estimated that 1 in eight, are allergic to nickel in contact with the skin. Now, the European union countries have legislation that started in January 2000, that limits the use of nickel with the idea of phasing out the use of nickel in jewelry. Japan and China have also taken a similar position on the use of nickel in jewelry.

But, you don’t have to worry, there is still white gold that is using palladium as an alloy to make white gold. Palladium is one of the platinum group metals. The platinum group of metals include platinum, iridium, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, and osmium. Since palladium white gold is more expensive, there are other cost-effective alternatives that are nickel free, most of which rely on manganese as the main whitener but these are more difficult to work with.

Platinum and its cousins like iridium, palladium, and rhodium, have been used for jewelry for a long time as well. Before white gold was popular, platinum or silver were the choices for white metal in jewelry. And these were great because platinum is hypoallergenic, although it is also a bit more expensive.

Silver has been alloyed to various purities that range from coin silver [.900], to sterling silver [.925], to Britannia [ .958] silver, and fine silver [.999]. Silver has also had different metals added to it for different properties, and to help prevent silver tarnishing. These different metal additives include germanium, zinc, silicon, boron, and newly popular argentinium. The addition of these alloys changes some of the ways of working the metal in casting, forming and soldering.

Now we have even more to chose from in metals for jewelry that are hypoallergenic, such as stainless steel which is common and inexpensive, and exotic metals such as titanium, which is extremely lightweight and strong, and can be anodized to various colors or niobium, which can also be anodized to a rainbow of bright colors.

For all the various metals there are still only a few things you need to do to take care of them. The first is to clean them. It makes no difference what metal you have, dirt will make them wear out much faster. Any part that has movement will grind away faster when there is dirt and body oils on them. Chains, pendants, watch bands, and even rings need to be cleaned periodically.

I had a conversation with an old jeweler one day about how often you should clean your jewelry. He said you should clean it as often as you clean your body. I think that every few weeks would be enough, depending on what you do to get your jewelry dirty.

Another thing is to be aware of how you may damage your jewelry. Most stones are strong enough to withstand everyday wear and most jewelry is durable, however they can still be hit against something hard or get caught and pulled or scratched. And, just everyday wear can take its toll on jewelry, so when you clean it also inspect it for wear.

Doing these things will help to keep your heavy metal in good condition for a long time!