Types of Metal

Most of our jewellery come in 4 types of metal variants. The 925 Sterling Silver, 9K White Gold, 14K White Gold and 18K White Gold.

925 Sterling Silver

Silver is a white precious metal that is cheapest among the other metals generally used for making jewellery. In appearance, sterling silver has comparatively more shine and brightness compared to white gold. 925 means that the metal contains 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals. The impurities are added to give strength to the metal, because pure silver is relatively soft to make jewellery.

When it comes to durability, then silver isn’t as bad as people think. It can last even up to 30 years and you can even wear them in water. 

18K White Gold

As the name suggests, white gold is more like white in appearance, something close in resemblance to silver, but it is not as bright and lustrous as silver. 18K white gold is an alloy that is used to make jewellery and contains 75% of pure gold and 25% of other metals in order to provide strength. Generally speaking, the more the percentage of gold, the less hard would be the jewellery, hence the impurities provide the much needed strength to the pieces.

Generally the impurities are in the following ratio. 5% copper and remaining 20% palladium, copper or nickel.

Durability is fine and the best part of white gold is that it is more scratch-resistant. White gold is then plated with rhodium to further enhance its strength and most importantly, the glitter.

14K White Gold

The 14K white gold contains 58.3% of pure gold along with 32.2% of silver and the remaining 9.5% is of palladium. Naturally the lesser percentage of gold makes it cheaper, however, it is a bit harder and stronger compared to the 18K gold.

It is also known as 585 gold 

9K White Gold

Naturally, 9K white gold has the least amount of gold in it. The percentage of gold in it is around 37.5% whereas the remaining is silver. In many countries, 9K is the lowest percentage of gold that the product must have in order to be sold as gold. In countries like Greece, the standard is 8K.

For maintenance purposes, all white gold requires rhodium coating every few years to remain lustrous and sparkling.