Jewellery in the shine of precious metals: gold, silver, rose gold & Co.

Precious metals, especially gold and silver, have been used to make jewellery for many centuries. The reasons for this are quite obvious: precious metals are not only extremely durable and have very high material quality. Even more important in connection with jewellery is their strong aesthetic appeal. For example, silver jewellery often enchants with seductive elegance and subtle sensuality – whereas jewellery made of gold has always been surrounded by the aura of the extraordinarily noble and exclusive. This special aura of precious metal jewellery cannot be explained by its mere value. It is based to the same extent on the magic that the bright, intense colours and radiant sheen of precious metals have always exerted on people.

In the following we will try to get to the bottom of the incomparable magic of precious metal jewellery and focus on the three precious metals that are essential in jewellery production: gold, silver and platinum. We pay attention to exciting historical backgrounds as well as interesting facts about the individual metals and their alloys. Practical information and tips, for example on the appropriate selection and harmonious combination of precious metal jewellery, round off the picture.

The exquisite club of precious metals

Classically, not only gold and silver are included in the precious metals, but also the platinum group metals. Mercury is sometimes also considered to be a precious metal, although it is significantly more reactive and has other chemical characteristics. In addition to platinum, the platinum group also includes palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium and iridium. Due to its high durability and material value, which is similar to silver and gold, the rare platinum is particularly suitable for the production of precious metal jewellery.

The term “precious metal” first of all involves certain chemical-physical properties. Precious metals are, above all, extremely corrosion-resistant: at room temperature, in their pure form, they either do not corrode in the air at all or only very slowly. Strictly speaking, a slight sign of corrosion can only be seen in silver: the gradual black tarnishing, especially of rarely worn silver jewellery (find more information in our jewellery cleaning guide). Apart from their corrosion resistance, precious metals are also very resistant to acids and are characterized by high electrical conductivity. After all, precious metals are relatively easy to deform. This property is the crucial prerequisite for their processing into jewellery.

Precious metals and their alloys

In the manufacture of jewellery, precious metals are usually not processed purely, but in certain alloys. In their unalloyed, pure form, precious metals are usually much too soft and therefore only of limited use as starting materials. Another important aspect in the alloying of precious metals is the cost factor: the alloying of the precious and correspondingly expensive metals enables a considerably cheaper production.

Chemically, an alloy is always to be understood as a combination of at least two elements, at least one of which is a metal. In the case of precious metal alloys, a precisely calculated proportion of other precious or other metals is added to the precious base metal. The added metals lead to a change in the material properties of the base metal, especially its purity, hardness and colour.

The value of a precious metal alloy largely depends on its purity. This is usually given in 1/1000 parts by weight of the precious metal in the alloy. In the case of 925 sterling silver, this means, for example, that the alloy contains 925 parts of pure silver by 1000 parts by weight or, in other words, that the proportion of silver is 92.5 percent.

With 750 gold, the typical alloy for high-quality gold jewellery, 750 parts of pure gold are contained in the alloy, resulting in a gold proportion of 75 percent. In addition to this metric system, with gold alloys the fineness is also denoted by carats. For example, 24-carat gold is gold in its purest form, so-called fine gold. 24-carat gold is usually no longer considered an alloy because it is almost absolutely pure. According to the metric system, fine gold contains 999/1000 parts of pure gold, i.e. 99.9 percent. However, the high level of purity also means great softness.

As mentioned, the different alloys of gold and silver not only change the purity of the respective precious metal and increase its hardness. They also have a significant impact on its colour. By adding additional metals such as copper, silver or palladium, different shades can be achieved in a multitude of degrees and the optical effect of jewellery can be deliberately designed. Gold is most commonly alloyed of all precious metals. We will come back to the most important gold alloys.

For jewellery lovers who are looking for jewellery online, the different precious metal alloys open up an extremely diverse range of original designs and a correspondingly large selection of fascinating jewellery.

Gold – precious metal of unearthly beauty

Science today assumes that heavy metals, which include precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum, originally come from space. Collisions of neutron stars most likely have been the reason for their formation. The idea that especially gold is originally not from this world is of course an excellent match for the almost unearthly beauty of the precious metal. From a very sober point of view, this also means that the resources of precious metals such as gold are found only to a limited extent here on earth: new gold cannot simply “grow” in the interior of the earth. Rather, we would always be dependent on the emergence of new gold deposits that, to put it casually, there would be a big bang in space.

The natural rarity, as with platinum and silver, only makes gold all the more valuable and thereby increases the attractiveness of high-quality gold jewellery considerably. So there really is good reason that gold should be considered the crown and most royal of all precious metals. The overwhelming shine of golden jewellery gives it a magnificent, almost majestic grace, which is probably not found in any other type of jewellery. Jewellery made of gold not only makes a visually powerful impression – it also was and still is a sign of real power.

For centuries, the most powerful secular and spiritual rulers all over the world have relied on the impressive aura of gold jewellery. Whether pharaohs, popes, tsars, bishops, emperors or kings: with magnificent golden insignia and jewellery such as crowns, sceptres, chains or rings, they show their dignity and thus underline their personal, religious or social position.

When exactly gold was discovered by humans is historically not clear. The earliest finds of gold jewellery date back to the 5th millennium B.C. From around the 6th century B.C., gold coins can also be proven as a means of payment. The element that occurs purely and solid in nature, literally caught the eye of people due to its shiny, deep yellow colour even in the earliest times. Its shine, which is reminiscent of the rays of the sun, and corresponding associations with the divine also explain why gold was preferred in many cultures to design ritual objects and religious symbols.

In the Middle Ages, the alchemists were captivated by the almost magical, seductive radiance of gold. Therefore, they looked for a way to “manufacture” the precious metal artificially from base metals. To date, no one has found the famous "philosopher's stone". In the meantime, however, science has actually managed to artificially produce gold as part of controlled nuclear reactions – albeit with a disproportionate amount of energy.

The fascination that emanates from gold and especially from jewellery made of gold is still undiminished. Beyond its aesthetic importance as the ultimate eye-catcher in countless, irresistibly beautiful jewellery creations, gold also fulfills important practical functions. For example, it serves as a stable investment in the form of gold coins and gold bars. Numerous central banks also store large amounts of gold as currency reserves.

Gold – impressive shine in many seductive alloys

The term "gold" is used relatively vaguely in everyday life. The colloquial language does not only use it to designate fine gold, that is, pure, so to speak "real" gold, but also for all gold-containing alloys – although some of them, in view of their very low proportion of pure gold, can actually hardly be called "gold" in a narrower sense.

In any case, the fineness of gold in Germany for a yellow gold alloy must not be less than the proportion of copper or silver. The minimum content of gold and, accordingly, the maximum content of additional metals in the case of yellow gold is 33.3 percent. Higher proportions than in the 8-carat gold increase the value and at the same time its yellow tone. The most popular jewellery alloy is 585 gold because it not only corrodes less often and less strongly than 333 gold, but also has a greater hardness than the high-quality 750 gold.

The range of gold alloys and their respective shades is very considerable in any case. The most widespread and sought-after are without a doubt the vivid yellow gold that very much resembles fine gold, the silvery white, slightly grey white gold, and the reddish red gold or rosy, delicately shiny rose gold. We will focus on the last-mentioned two gold alloys in detail in a separate section later on.

Due to its particularly intense, gold-typical yellow tone, yellow gold is certainly the most distinctive and therefore probably the most appreciated gold colour worldwide. Yellow gold is created by adding silver and copper to fine gold, whereby the two metals added are in a 1: 1 proportion to each other. The visual proximity to pure gold and the intensity of the yellow tone decrease as the proportion of fine gold in the metal alloy is reduced.

Another very popular gold alloy is white gold. At the beginning of the 20th century, white gold was first developed out of the desire to be able to use a visually similar, cheaper alternative to platinum in jewellery production. Because of its often almost colourless, shiny, slightly greyish colours, "white gold" would actually be more appropriate to describe as "grey gold". Therefore, especially in the francophone world, the term "or gris" is actually used for white gold. In general, the term "white gold" summarizes alloys from which the characteristic yellowish gold tone has been removed by the addition of decolourizing metals. The most common alloy additives are palladium, silver with low fine gold contents and sometimes still the previously often used nickel.

In its unique effect, gold jewellery, more precisely jewellery made of yellow gold, surely outshines all other precious metal colours to this day. So it is easily understandable that we prefer gold jewellery when we want to emphasize the outstanding importance of an event or want to show our deep affection to a very special person: for example when choosing exclusive wedding rings or in the form of gifts as sparkling proofs of love for our partner.

Are you a self-confessed "gold type" and do you appreciate the very special radiance of yellow gold? Anyway, from your longstanding practice, you know your jewellery preferences, of course, and you can certainly answer this question yourself quickly. Should you still be unsure whether gold jewellery really suits you, just take the following guidelines to heart: darker and Mediterranean skin types with dark brown or black hair and brown eyes do not only do themselves a great favour optically with rich golden and golden yellow jewellery made of yellow gold – they will also do a great favour to their countless admirers! White gold, on the other hand, emphasizes the pale skin tone of lighter skin types. Would you like more information about this? Our guide to the type-appropriate combination of jewellery contains many other useful tips.

Rose gold – delicate colour for beautiful beings

There are passionate lovers of silver jewellery – and there are determined followers of gold jewellery. But there is also the growing group of fans of rose gold jewellery. It also has a large number of representatives from the other two groups. Jewellery made of rose gold is still a relatively young variant of gold jewellery, more precisely of red gold jewellery. Red gold or rose gold originated in Russia, where it was particularly popular at the beginning of the 19th century.

Because of this origin, the term "Russengold" became colloquially used for "red gold", especially in the GDR. The jewellery owes its recent boom and a steadily growing fan base primarily to its often so light and very playful colours, which give rose gold jewellery a wonderfully imaginative, romantic charm.

For this reason, rose gold tones in particular, but in general rose tones have long since become trend colours in the contemporary fashion world. You will not only see them on catwalks in the creations of trendy designers. Smartphones are also increasingly pleasing to the eye with their shiny rose gold skins. Finally, a large number of current fashion accessories, such as stylish wristwatches or smartwatches delight with wonderful rose gold looks.

As with all other gold variants, the secret of its richness of nuance in rose gold lies in the finely graded shades of its individual alloys. Rose gold is actually a particularly noble form of red gold – particularly noble due to its high proportion of fine gold and a correspondingly low proportion of copper. The terms "red gold" and "rose gold" are sometimes even used synonymously, since a clear conceptual delimitation or clear definition is hardly possible.

From rose to red – a fascinating variety of tones

Red gold as well as rose gold get their reddish or rose-coloured tones by adding different amounts of copper. The higher the copper content, the deeper and more intense the reddish colour. In the case of red gold, it extends to a copper-like, very strong rust red. The characteristic, delicate reddish tone of high-quality rose gold, on the other hand, is best achieved with a comparatively low-copper mixing ratio: typically, with a fine gold content of 75%, the remaining 25% of the alloy with 20.5% is copper and 4.5% is silver or palladium. For this very reason, 750 rose gold is by far the most common alloy in rose gold jewellery.

In this context it should be mentioned that rose gold coloured jewellery accessories are often silver jewellery plated with rose gold. In these cases, sterling silver is mostly thinly coated with rose gold. On the one hand, this allows the price of the jewellery pieces to be kept pleasantly low – on the other hand, their visual impact remains surprisingly large. In their delightful sheen they are comparable to the 750 rose gold which has higher quality, but also is significantly more expensive. In this way, all those who do not want to dig deep into their pockets when buying their new rose gold jewellery, will also be able to visually enjoy the enchanting jewellery colour.

Speaking of visual enjoyment: while red gold with its particularly warm, extremely strong colour character is most impressive when it comes to deeply tanned or at least brown skin, rose gold jewellery is basically compatible with all skin types. The harmonious, optically very balanced colour looks equally noble and stylish on darker, Mediterranean and lighter skin tones (you can find out more about the different skin types in our guide to the type-appropriate combination of jewellery).

It is advisable for lighter types, whose skin has a slightly reddish undertone, to give their own complexion a little more depth through a bit of rouge when wearing rose gold coloured jewellery. Then, especially in combination with matching nail polish and harmoniously accentuated lips, rose gold unfolds its tasteful and absolutely trendy charm in a wonderful way. Overall, rose gold jewellery tends to look more subtle than yellow gold jewellery, but a little more striking than jewellery made of silver. Ultimately, therefore, it remains above all a question of your individual type and style, how strongly and expressively you want to use jewellery and individual jewellery colours.

Silver – a classic of great modernity

Silver jewellery, like jewellery made of gold, is a real classic. The number of people who opt for silver when choosing new jewellery is correspondingly large – and they usually do it very consistently and without compromise. Historically, just like gold, silver has been used by people for a very long time, namely since the 5th millennium B.C. Whether Assyrians, Egyptians, Goths, Greeks, Romans or Teutons: almost all ancient civilizations used silver and sometimes even considered it to be more valuable than gold.

Silver also has a similarly long tradition as gold as a coinage metal, ranging from antiquity to the 19th century. It was only towards the end of the 19th century that the use of silver gradually faded into the background when gold became the predominant coin metal. As a result, the economic importance of silver decreased significantly.

With the invention of stainless steel, this development was reinforced. After the First World War, the more attractive price of steel ensured that steel was increasingly used, for example, to produce cutlery and kitchen appliances instead of silver. In analogue photography, however, silver in the form of silver salts played an important role in the development of images throughout the 20th century and only lost this function around the turn of the millennium due to the triumph of digital photography.

In nature, silver, like gold and platinum, appears solid and pure, that is, in elementary form. Silver in the form of ore, like the other two precious metals, is considered a mineral. The precious metals are bound as constituents in the ores. A large part of the usable silver is obtained from such silver ores. Here, the metal is first chemically extracted from the silver ore as part of metallurgical processes before it can be processed further.

With regard to its corrosion resistance, silver differs from the other precious metals, which in their pure form do not corrode at all in the air. After a certain time, a very thin layer of silver sulfide forms on the surface of silver jewellery. The weak chemical reaction by no means damages the silver. In addition, a piece of jewellery that has tarnished is relatively easy to clean and thus can easily made to shine again. You can find out how to best clean and store your silver jewellery in our guide on cleaning jewellery.

Silver – the main alloys

Silver can also be alloyed extremely well with other metals. The most common are silver alloys with copper or palladium, but of course also gold. The alloys of silver with copper and palladium not only increase its material hardness. If the proportion of palladium in the alloy is between 20 and 30%, the alloy even becomes resistant to tarnishing. In addition to the different silver alloys, the possibility of gilding is also often used in the manufacture of silver jewellery. The term “vermeil”, borrowed from French, is sometimes used for gold-plated silver.

As already mentioned, the metric system also applies to silver alloys. That means: the designation of an alloy is given on the fineness of silver in parts of thousandths. Fine silver therefore corresponds to a purity of at least 999/1000 parts. The most widespread and popular silver alloy is undoubtedly sterling silver. It consists of 92.5% silver and 7.5% added copper. Due to its copper content, sterling silver is significantly harder than fine silver and is therefore traditionally used for the production of silver jewellery and silver cutlery. From the 12th century to the 20th century, sterling silver was also the preferred coin metal in Great Britain. To this day, the official name for the British currency is reminiscent of it: the pound sterling.

The so-called Britannia silver is another silver-copper alloy with a relatively high degree of purity. The mixing ratio here is 95.8% silver and 4.2% copper. Britannia silver is primarily used to make cutlery. Due to the lower copper content, it is noticeably softer than sterling silver. The popular bullion coins known as "Britannias" were also minted in Britannia silver until 2012.

Finally, among the high-quality silver alloys with a silver content of more than 90%, the patented Argentium™ Sterling Silver must also be mentioned. It has a silver content of at least 93.5%. Argentium™ Sterling Silver is characterized by the replacement of copper with germanium. With the addition of the other metal, Argentium™ Sterling Silver is not only harder and more durable than classic sterling silver, it also does not tarnish.

Silver – versatile all-rounder for stylish appearances

Hardly any binding statements can be made about questions of fashionable taste, such as the selection of jewellery accessories. Most jewellery lovers already have clear individual preferences and often intuitively favour the jewellery that best suits them. Nevertheless, the thesis that the aesthetic character of silver jewellery is generally less attention-grabbing than gold jewellery, which is significantly more striking in terms of its colour, is difficult to refute.

In terms of colour, silver jewellery certainly harmonizes ideally with lighter skin types. Their rosy-white or porcelain-like skin tone has a rather cool appearance. While the colour of hair with paler complexions can range from light blonde to ash brown, their typical eye colours include blue, blue-green, grey and grey-blue. In their colour effect, cooler precious metals such as silver or alternatively white gold or platinum also fit perfectly here. Darker and Mediterranean types, which are naturally hardly restricted in their choice of jewellery anyway can of course also not go wrong with silver jewellery.

Platinum – attractive "outsider" with great potential

It cannot be denied that platinum used to exist in the shadow of the two popular and classic precious metals gold and silver for a long time. In this context, it is all too fitting that when searching for gold in the 17th century, platinum was initially regarded as an unnecessary “by-product” of gold and was thrown back into the rivers. The gold prospectors in the Spanish colonies in South America did not recognize the true value of platinum at the time and considered it to be "immature gold". Even the designation of the precious metal is still reminiscent of the low level of respect that platinum has long been accorded: "platinum" is derived from the Spanish word "platina", which means "little silver" and has a clearly derogatory reverberation.

The association with silver is due to the colour similarity of the two white-grey, "silvery" metals. Even though platinum may actually resemble silver optically – in its other properties and above all in its value, platinum is much more like gold. Significantly, it was only the gold counterfeiters of the 17th century who discovered that disregarded platinum had a similar weight and comparable durability to gold. In order to counteract the counterfeiting of gold, the Spanish government even saw itself forced to an export ban on platinum. It was only in the middle of the 18th century that platinum gradually lost its previously quite negative image in the course of its closer scientific analysis.

After the successful "rehabilitation" of the precious metal, today's areas of application for platinum are all the more diverse. In addition to its use in the production of jewellery and as a means of payment and investment, the precious metal is also used, for example, in electrical engineering, sensor technology, chemistry or medicine, for example for the production of catalytic converters, thermocouples, implants and a wide variety of devices.

A particularly positive characteristic of platinum is that, like gold, it has an extremely high resistance to corrosion. When platinum comes into contact with other elements such as the oxygen in the air, there is no discolouration or other changes. Furthermore, platinum can be processed extremely well into jewellery due to its high deformability and is very valuable due to its natural rarity.

Platinum – the main alloys

Platinum alloys always have a very high fineness. Last but not least, this is one of the reasons why platinum has enjoyed a remarkable boom in the area of wedding jewellery and especially wedding rings in recent years. For example, probably the most common platinum alloy for jewellery consists of 96 percent platinum and 4 percent copper. The added copper increases the hardness of the piece of jewellery, since pure platinum also would otherwise be much too soft for the production of jewellery. The second common platinum alloy in the jewellery industry is the so-called Fasser platinum. In this even more noble, also 96-percent platinum alloy, copper is replaced by palladium.

Another remarkable property of platinum is associated with the generally very high platinum content of the alloys: its high skin compatibility and consequently a very pleasant feeling when worn. Even with an allergy, you can therefore order jewellery online if it is made of platinum. By the way, platinum shares the advantage of excellent wearing comfort with another metal: titanium.

Titanium – a real alternative

Although titanium is not a precious metal in the classic sense, it is of course also a very noble metal. Precisely because of its excellent material properties, titanium is therefore also in great demand in the watch and jewellery sector for the production of high-quality titanium watches and attractive jewellery made of titanium. Titanium is not only extremely light and at the same time extremely hard, but also very skin-friendly and highly corrosion-resistant. Due to their colour similarity to silver jewellery and jewellery made of white gold, both jewellery made of platinum and titanium jewellery are particularly suitable for lighter skin types: the elegant tone of their complexion can be accentuated tastefully and discreetly.

Precious metal jewellery – always a truly brilliant choice

When choosing precious metal jewellery, primarily follow your individual taste. Often it is not only easy to choose the right colour, but also to combine the precious metals and their respective tones in a very beautiful way. Take rings, for example: in trendy ring stacking, finger jewellery in two-tone or three-tone design offers a solution that is as simple as it is attractive. The elegant transition in colour comes naturally here – and in a very tasteful way. A harmonious colour mix is just as easy for necklaces if you choose them in different chain lengths and metal tones and combine them with each other.

Whether gold, rose gold, silver or platinum: individually worn and also combined, your options for jewellery made of precious metals are almost limitless, especially in view of its tremendous colour richness and the overwhelming variety of designs. From strikingly exclusive looks for going out in the evening to subtle yet striking and chic styles for the office: precious metal jewellery sets impressive accents at the most various occasions.

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