What follows is a brief introduction to the precious metals used in our workshop in order to help you choose a metal that best suits your piece of bespoke jewellery.

 

The Golds

 

We supply fair trade 18ct yellow and white gold. Please see our ethics page for more information. 

Please note - we work with 9ct and 18ct purity gold for all our jewellery. These are the alloys that are the most popular in the UK market.

 

Yellow gold - 18ct yellow gold has a much brighter, deeper yellow hue than 9ct simply due to the higher pure gold content. The Assay mark for gold reflects it's purity, with 9ct stamped 375 (parts to 100), with 18ct at 750 (parts to 100). The other elements present in the gold allloys that we use are silver, zinc and copper. There is a common perception that 9ct gold is harder wearing over time than 18ct and while pure gold is very soft so there is a certain logic, the alloys produced now have taken this into account. An 18ct gold modern alloy is just as durable now as a 9ct gold alloy so really the choice comes down to personal preference with regards to the colour and feel of the gold or, of course, to cost aspect of the piece to be made.

 

White gold - the 'whiteness' of this gold alloy is due to the proportions of copper and silver and also the addition of platinum and/or palladium which are both very white metals. We work in both 9ct and 18ct white gold with the 18ct giving a brighter and whiter colour.

 

Rose or 'red' gold - the red tinge in this beautiful metal is due to the proportion of copper used in the alloy. The 18ct rose gold does have a deeper red colour than the 9ct.

 

Platinum - the rarest of the 'platinum metals' and highly prized for its colour and intrinsic value. These metals have a very white colour to them and are very hard wearing with a bright lustre. They do not react with the oxygen in the air like silver does and so do not tarnish easily. A platinum wedding or commitment ring has a shine that lasts as it is so durable and has an inimitable silvery grey/white almost blue colour. The platinum alloy we use is hallmarked at 950 quality platinum and also contains copper.

 

Palladium - one of the platinum group of metals. Palladium is a metal used more and more for its similar properties to platinum but which is considerably more affordable. This metal at present, has no British hallmark, but this is due to be introduced early next year. We can however, guarantee a purity for palladium of 95% with the other elements being copper and gallium (a silvery white metal with a low melting point).

 

Rhodium - this is another of the platinum group of metals and used as a plating finish to some silver jewellery and white gold pieces. This finish adds an extra bright shine and white tint to a piece of jewellery, though if a piece is finished correctly this is unnecessary. We are happy to rhodium plate your bespoke piece of jewellery for you on request though it is a finish that does wear off and can cause problems with regards to polishing and keeping clean.