Metals and alloys

When choosing the right wedding ring, couples can choose from various precious metals and alloys. To ensure that this is successful, we will discuss precious metals and alloys on the following page.

First of all, what are precious metals?

These metals are corrosion-resistant. This means that the metals are permanently chemically stable in a natural environment when exposed to air and water. Due to this stability, gold and silver have been used to make jewelry and coins since ancient times. In the last four centuries, platinum metals have also been discovered, which are similarly resistant to corrosion as gold. Today, it is mainly gold, silver, platinum and palladium that play a role on the world markets. 

An overview of the individual precious metals used to make wedding rings:

·      Silver

·      Platinium

·      Gold in

           o   Yellow gold

           o   White gold

           o   Rose gold

Silver

Silver is the affordable alternative to gold or platinum, and this precious material is of particular interest to young people. As with other wedding rings, there are no limits to the creativity of silver rings.  Some bridal couples opt for gemstones, engravings and designer cuts. 

We recommend silver rings for friendship or partner rings, because due to the material properties of silver, gold alloys are 30% to 40% harder, the rings deform more quickly in everyday life and signs of wear such as scratches or material wear are more visible and faster.

Platinium

is a precious metal and currently the most valuable after gold - it is almost sixty times more expensive than silver. For jewelry, i.e. for our wedding rings, we use platinum in the form of alloys as it is hardly harder than gold in its pure state. However, platinum is more difficult to process and therefore usually costs more than gold. Platinum rings have a high purity content and change their color little or not at all over many years.

Yellow gold

It is the classic among the gold colors and comes closest to fine gold. The wedding rings made of a noble yellow gold alloy seduce with their warm color and shine. The higher the purity of the gold, the deeper the golden shimmer. Due to the color yellow gold, many couples combine the rings as wedding rings, but also in many countries a ring made of yellow gold symbolizes the precious metal gold and thus the value of this ring.  

White gold

When platinum supplies from Russia dried up due to political upheaval, white gold was developed as a substitute in Germany around 1912. This is because, unlike silver, (white) gold does not oxidize and undesirable discolouration does not occur.

White gold is a gold alloy (= metal mixture) that has been deprived of its yellow color intensity by adding silver, nickel, platinum or palladium. The appearance of raw white gold ranges from steel gray to blue-gray to pale yellow. The color is retained even with heavy wear. 

(Red) rose gold

Red gold and rose gold get their color from copper, which is added to the gold. The higher the copper content, the stronger the red color. 

Rose gold has a high copper content and therefore a rust-red color similar to copper. In addition to the coloring, the copper also gives a red gold alloy increased strength and hardness. 

In rose gold, the particularly precious variation of red gold, the precious metal has a lower copper content and a higher gold content. Silver or palladium is often added to high-quality rose gold - elements that have a discoloring effect and improve the durability and resistance of the jewelry to external influences.

Gold jewelry alloys - the meaning of 375, 585, 750

The designation white gold alone does not indicate anything about the exact composition of the gold or precious metal content and the resulting value of a piece. 

The three-digit number with which a piece is stamped, the hallmark, indicates the weight of the fine gold content. For example, if a wedding ring is hallmarked 375, this means that the ring contains 375 parts of fine gold and 625 parts of other added metals out of a total metal content of 1,000 parts. 585 gold consists of 585 parts fine gold and 415 parts added other metals. 750 gold therefore consists of 750 parts fine gold and 250 parts added other metals. 

Gold with a 9 carat (= unit of measurement for the fine gold content) or 375 hallmark means that the corresponding piece contains 37.5% pure gold and the rest consists of other metals. Pieces with 14 carat have a percentage of 58.5% fine gold and with 18 carat the percentage of fine gold is 75%. The remainder consists of other metals such as silver, copper, palladium and more.