at Orsini
Jewellery can be made from a range of gold carat weights. Carat weight is used to determine the amount of gold in a piece of jewellery.
Pure gold (24k gold) is very soft and isn't always practical to use alone in fine jewellery. For this reason, it's combined with other metals for durability. Karat is the measurement of gold's purity; it indicates the volume of pure gold in an alloy.
Why do we recommend 18k gold?
18 karat gold is 18 parts pure gold or 75% pure, hence the stamp 750 found inside pieces made from this alloy. You may also find the letters 18k engraved inside a ring. At Orsini Fine Jewellery we predominantly use 18 karat gold as our ‘gold standard’. 18k gold is strong, has a beautiful hue, durable and is less likely to tarnish, corrode or react with the owner's skin.
18k gold is a better metal for master goldsmiths to work with and creates finer quality jewellery.
This is an ideal metal alloy for making fine pieces of jewellery such as engagement and wedding rings that will be treasured for a lifetime and passed on to future generations.
What are the benefits of 9k gold? Whilst 9k gold is technically harder than 18k gold, this doesn't mean it's more resilient in the long-term. 9k gold is in fact more brittle, which means it's less resistant to knocks and scratches on a microscopic scale when compared over a longer period of time. 9k gold also contains a higher proportion of other metals so it will tarnish over time. Depending on which metals are used to make the alloy, it’s also much more likely to cause a skin reaction in some people. However, it should be noted that at Orsini the Italian jewellery does not contain nickel.
With this said, there are reasons to opt for 9k gold. It’s a popular choice for men’s wedding bands and it’s also perfect if you’re on a limited budget. And if you look after it and clean it often, re rhodium plate regularly (if white gold) it’s certainly going to last well. 14k gold is a better alloy than 9k gold as it has more gold content.
White Gold is a very popular metal if you want a very shiny white looking ring. The tone can be varied depending on the alloy formula used, so in order to create consistent white brightness, rhodium plating is applied to the surface. This plating will need to be reapplied every -2 years depending on the wear and tear.
Yellow Gold lasts forever and will not rust, tarnish or corrode. It is an everlasting and treasured precious metal that has withstood the test of time. 18k Gold contains 75% pure gold by weight and has a beautiful golden hue.
At Orsini, our Yellow Gold is available in 9k, 14k and 18k so you can choose a colour and purity of Gold that suits you. Our recommended gold standard is 18k gold.
The Rose or Pink Gold alloy utilizes the rich yellow of Gold and the reddish hue of Copper to produce its warm pink and rose tones. This is very flattering colour gold on many skin types.
9k gold has a pinker tone due to the higher copper content. At Orsini we love the beautiful hue of 18k rose gold.
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The platinum group metals are made up of platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium.
At Orsini we have some incredible pieces that contain either platinum, palladium, rhodium, or ruthenium. These metals are more dense than gold, with high melting points, high heat resistance, and high corrosion resistance, making them the toughest metals used in jewellery.
At Orsini we offer platinum and palladium options for the majority of our wedding rings.
We are happy to assist you select the perfect metal for your needs.
If something is made of pure silver, this means it' is made of 99.9% pure elemental silver.
Pure silver is quite soft and difficult to shape properly, which makes it hard to use to make items that require daily use or specific shapes. Because of this, pure silver is not generally used to make fine and delicate jewellery items.
This softness also means that fine silver items aren't as durable. They can be easily bent, made misshapen, or damaged.
Sterling silver is what's known as a metal alloy. This means that sterling silver is a combination of metals instead of just one single metal.
Steling silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% alloy. The addition of these other metals makes sterling silver significantly stronger and more durable. This makes sterling silver a preferable alloy to work with when creating jewellery. When it comes to jewellery, in most cases (not all), if an item is labelled as silver it will most likely be sterling silver.
If you would like any assistance, please do not hesitate to get in touch, we are more than happy to help. Otherwise if you would prefer to go over any details in person, please contact us with a time that best suits you. We are happy to book an appointment for a one on one consultation with an engagement & wedding ring expert. Our consultants are qualified GIA accredited jewellery professionals and GAA diamond graders.
