February 15, 2021

How to choose your metal? Gold, platinum or silver

Precious metals have different attributes that make them interesting: their color, their shine, their hardness, their malleability... So many properties to know to make an informed choice! Mainly, it will be the color, the alloy and the carat that are going to be the deciding factors.

The carat for precious metals

The carat, when talking about precious metals, is a unit of measurement that represents the percentage of the base metal present in the alloy to describe its purity. Its abbreviation is ct or k. It is calculated by a fraction over 24 parts.

A fraction of 1000 parts can also be used to describe the purity of the metal.

Here are some examples.

14k gold: means that 14 parts out of 24 (583/1000) are gold, for an alloy that is composed of 58.3% gold.
18k gold: means that 18 parts out of 24 (750/1000) are gold, for a purity of 75%.
24k gold: Perfectly pure gold does not exist, when we talk about 24k gold, it is 99.9% pure (999/1000).
925 silver: For silver 925 (925/1000) it is 92.5% silver
Platinum 950: Platinum 950 is 95% pure (950/1000).

Alloys for jewelry

An alloy is an amalgam of metals. It is mixed from molten metals to form a single solid state material.

We will combine one metal with another to increase or reduce one or other of its specific properties. Among these qualities are: hardness, malleability, color, corrosion resistance and fluidity.

For example, 24k gold is very rarely used for jewelry making because it is very malleable which means it will deform easily when worn. In this case, we will create a 10k, 14k or 18k gold alloy based on gold with a lower percentage of silver and copper to add hardness to the 24k gold.

Or, a small percentage of zinc is added to a gold alloy to increase its fluidity and facilitate casting.

You may also want to modify the color of a metal. Gold is naturally a bright yellow, but thanks to the alloys we can have white gold and pink gold.

Carat and color of gold

Variations in the percentage of metals in the alloys will affect the color of the metal sought.

Yellow gold: The yellow of 18k yellow gold is richer than that of 14k gold, because the yellow element is present in greater quantity in 18k.
Rose gold: The pink of 14k rose gold is more pronounced than that of 18k because there is more copper in 14k since the proportion of alloy compared to gold is greater than in 18k.
White gold: 14k or 18k white gold is naturally more beige than grey/white, so it is common to add a rhodium plating to improve its color. To eliminate this step you can use a 19k white gold alloy which has a beautiful grey/white color, but the disadvantage is that it is very hard and therefore it is not recommended for jewelery set with more delicate stones. .

The metals offered at LARYA

Now that you know more about precious metals, you are ready to choose yours!

We offer you this selection of metals, some of which are in different carats. As not all metals have the same characteristics, particularly in terms of hardness and malleability, some are not available for all models.

Matter	Color	Purity	Value
Money	White (with rhodium plating)	925	$
Gold	White (with rhodium plating)	14k (583)	$$$
Gold	White (with rhodium plating)	18k (750)	$$$$
Gold	White	19k (792)	$$$$$
Gold	YELLOW	14k (583)	$$$
Gold	YELLOW	18k (750)	$$$$
Gold	Pink	14k (583)	$$$
Gold	Pink	18k (750)	$$$$
Platinum	White	950	$$$$

Ultimately, what you need to determine is the color you are looking for and the budget you have. You will notice when shopping our jewelry that the cost of the pieces can vary greatly depending on the metal and carat options, it is with this information in mind that you will make the right choice for you! Contact us for any other questions.