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Clarity refers to 'inclusions' or blemishes visible in the stone,
either by the naked eye or when viewed through a magnifying glass.
IF
/ FL
= internally flawless / flawless
VVS
(grades 1 and 2) = very very slightly included (not visible to the
naked eye)
VS
(grades 1 and 2) = very slightly included (not visible to the naked
eye)
SI
(grades
1 and 2) =
slightly included (not visible to the naked eye)
I
(grades 1, 2 and 3) = included
(visible to the naked eye)
BEWARE...
NEVER ACCEPT a stone that is graded as '
SI3 '
...
this grade does not officially exist and is used to pass off inferior
stones,
that should have been graded as an ' I1
'
diamond.
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Platinum
It
is a malleable, ductile, lustrous, silver-white, chemically inactive
metal.
No
other jewellery metal is as long lasting and wonderfully precious
with it's understated elegance and beautiful design.
What's more, Platinum is the rarest of all the precious metals making
it always in vogue.
In contrast with gold and silver, there are no large above-ground
platinum stockpiles to protect against significant supply disruptions.
Platinum may seem new but it's history is also legendary. The ancient
Egyptians and South American Incas prized it, and today, the finest
and most elegant jewellery contains platinum.
The Qualities of Platinum
Platinum jewellery made in the UK contains up to 95% pure platinum.
When marked "Plat" or "950" an item is atleast
95% pure platinum with 5% of another metal. One thing that
makes platinum so wonderfully special is the rarity of the material.
Ten tons of ore have to be minded to produce a single ounce of platinum.
Only after painstaking and time-consuming refining can skilled hands
work to transform platinum into wearable art!
Summary
Platinum is also wonderful for people with sensitive skin as it's
hypoallergenic properties make it available to wear to anyone. It's
ability not to tarnish makes it one of the world's strongest jewellery
products. A lot of people mistake platinum with "White Gold"
but it really is quite different. The biggest problem, which makes
the metal so desirable, is it's rarity. While new uses for platinum
are being discovered almost daily, its supply is extremely restricted.
Remarkable difficulties exist in its mining and production, with
more than 130 metric tons of new platinum reaching the world market
each year; that figure is less than 5% of gold production.
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Palladium
Juniper
is one of the few jewellers in New Zealand who offers palladium
as an affordable alternative to platinum...currently
it is less than a quarter of the price! As there is no need to plate
palladium (unlike white gold) it is rapidly becoming THE white metal
choice of the future.
It
is a chemical element with symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is
a rare silver-white transition metal of the platinum group, resembling
platinum in chemical structure. It was discovered in platinum ores
in 1803, and named after the asteroid Pallas by William Hyde Wollaston.
In 2005, Russia was the top producer of palladium with at least
50% world share followed by South Africa, USA and Canada, reports
the British Geological Survey.
Palladium is used in dentistry, watch making, in blood sugar test
strips, in aircraft spark plugs and in the production of surgical
instruments and electrical contacts. Palladium is also used to make
professional transverse flutes.
Palladium itself has occasionally been used as a precious metal
in jewellery, as replacement for platinum or white gold. This is
due to its naturally white properties giving it no need
for a rhodium plating. It is slightly whiter, much lighter
and about 12% harder than white gold.
It can also be used as a substitute for nickel when making white
gold. Palladium is one of three most-used metals that can be alloyed
with gold to produce white gold. (Nickel and silver can also be
used.) Palladium-gold is a much more expensive alloy than nickel-gold
(white gold) but is hypoallergenic and holds its white colour
better.
When platinum was declared a strategic government resource during
World War II, many jewellery bands were made out of palladium.
As recently as September 2001, palladium was more expensive than
platinum and rarely used in jewellery also due to the technical
obstacle of casting. However the casting problem has been resolved,
and its use in jewellery has increased because of a large spike
in the price of platinum and a drop in the price of palladium.
(reference)
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Gold
is one of the world's most
precious metals.
Gold
is said to be so rare that the world pours more steel in just one
hour than it has poured gold since time began.
All of the gold in the world could be compressed into an 18 meter
cube.
It is recorded that only 88,000 tons of gold have been taken from
the earth since recorded history.
A one-ounce gold nugget is more rare to find than a five-carat diamond.
Gold is so heavy that one cubic foot of it weighs half a ton.
Gold is six to seven times heavier than other materials that equal
its size.
Gold can be hammered so thin that sunlight can shine through it.
A single ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 60 miles long.
Various
coloured alloys are achieved by mixing pure gold with for instance
pure silver, platinum or paladium to achieve 'white' gold and copper
for 'red' or 'rose' gold.
At
Juniper we are happy to advise on which gold suits your particular
colouring.
Q: Is it correct that 9 carat gold is harder wearing than 18 carat gold?
The simple answer is no!
Most people are surprised to hear this, because for some reason, they have always believed, or been told, that 9 carat gold is harder, or harder wearing than 18 carat gold. We have seen 22ct gold wedding rings after being worn every day for over 50 years that still look as good as the day they were made!
Why then does everybody tell you that 9 carat is harder?
There are two reasons why this myth has become established:-
Ignorant Sales Staff
Firstly, sales staff in jewellery stores do not always know their facts, and because 9 carat gold is more commonly stocked in New Zealand than 18 carat, they try to sell what they have in stock, therefore, it is tempting to sell the benefits of 9 carat gold.
The Obvious Assumption is Wrong
Secondly, it is fairly well known that pure gold is quite soft, too soft, in fact to be used successfully in jewellery. This is quite accurate, although in some cultures, consumers prefer pure gold jewellery, but it is rather soft, so needs to be made quite solid for greater strength, and this adds to the price. Pure gold jewellery also would need to be worn with more care than alloyed gold jewellery. It is also fairly well known that if gold is alloyed with other metals, it becomes harder.
Where many people make a mistake is to assume that the more "other" metals are added, the stronger and harder the resultant alloy. This is an easy and understandable mistake to make, and it is believed that both consumers and many working within the jewellery trade have commonly made the same mistake over a long period of time, until the mistake has become lazily accepted as the truth.
Is there a more complete answer?
As usual, the answer to a simple question is not always simple.
First, there are many different combinations of metals which can be used to make gold alloys. There are many different "recipes" for both 9 carat and 18 carat gold alloys. A carat simple means 1/24th, i.e. one part in 24. So 9 carat gold must be at least 9 parts gold out of 24, which is equivalent to 37.5%, the other 62.5% can be any other metal, the commonest used being copper and silver, but platinum, palladium, zinc, and other metals are used. Similarly with 18 carat gold, which has to be 18/24, equivalent to 75% gold, the rest being composed of any other metal. You would be quite correct to guess that each different "recipe" has its own different characteristics including hardness.
It is quite possible to make hard or soft "recipes" for 9 carat and also for 18 carat and other gold alloys. In general, most common 18 carat gold alloys are both harder, and harder wearing than their 9 carat equivalent.
Durability:
This brings us to the point that hardness and durability are not one and the same thing. To give a simple example, a glass ball is harder than a rubber ball. Try throwing each onto a hard surface. The glass ball will break, but the rubber ball will bounce and remain intact because it is more durable. The glass ball breaks because it is brittle. In the same way, metal alloy can also be brittle, and 9 hard carat gold alloys tend to be slightly brittle, whereas 18 carat gold alloys tend to be more resilient.
Tarnish Resistance:
18 carat alloys are almost completely resistant to chemical attack in normal use, whereas 9 carat alloys are much less resistant.
9 carat alloys for example will go dull or even black merely from exposure to chemicals in the atmosphere, they will also discolour in contact with perspiration, some fabrics, bleach and other household chemicals.
At
Juniper we are happy to advise on which gold is most suitable for you.
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