Stainless steel jewelry is becoming increasingly popular among different age groups. The most reason apart from the cost factor is that it’s non allergic and easy to replace. Many people have allergies to the nickel found in most common jewelry metals. However, stainless steel does not incorporate other alloys to make it harder; it is a naturally hard metal. In fact, stainless steel is one of the most bio-compatible metals. It can be worn by anybody because of its anti-allergic properties.

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A Guide To Gold Earrings

One thing you can say about gold earrings is that they are timeless pieces that are always in style. They are not only beautiful, but also wear-friendly since, unlike sterling silver, they don’t tarnish. Another great attribute is that people with allergies to certain metals, or find they have a problem with staining from metals that have been combined with gold, don’t have a problem with gold itself.

Gold is a versatile metal, able to be worked in virtually any shape, whether it be small, but sturdy, strands to thin sheets. In fact, just one ounce has the ability to be hammered into an extremely thin sheet measuring at ten feet square. Artisans, especially makers of gold earrings, can manipulate gold into any desired shape.

When choosing gold earrings you need to look at the gold’s karat factor. Different karat numbers are what describe just how much pure gold is in the earrings. The percentage of gold in the earrings is higher when the karat number is higher.

For example, 24K earrings are pure gold, 18K is 75% gold with 18 parts of gold and 6 parts of another metal, 14K, the most common, is 58.3% gold with 14 parts of gold and 10 parts of another metal, 12K is 50% gold with 12 parts of gold and 12 parts of another metal, and, lastly, 10K, the minimum karat that can be described as gold, is a mere 41.7% gold with 10 parts gold and 14 parts of another metal.

Gold earrings made in Europe will have different markings. For example, 18K will be marked as 750, 14K will be marked as 585, and 12 K will be marked as 417. These marking stand for the percentage of gold the earrings contain.

Most gold earrings aren’t made of pure gold since it can be quite soft and not very practical for daily wear. In mot cases, other metals will have been mixed with the gold in order to heighten the durability, as well as lower the price.

When metallurgists add other metals to gold it allows them to change the gold’s color. To create white gold Palladium, also known as nickel, is added. The addition of copper products creates a rose/pink color, while adding silver can give gold a greenish tint.

When choosing the type of gold earrings that is right for you, you must decide how often you will wear them and what type of karat number will fit this need. If you are allergic to such metals as nickel, you should choose gold earrings that have a higher gold content. This means that gold earrings marked with 18K or 22K are best for you.

If you plan to wear your earrings only on occasion, and don’t necessarily have to have the best gold there is, then you have the option of choosing gold earrings that are gold filled or even gold plated. This would not be a good choice if you do plan to wear the gold earrings on a daily basis since a lot of use will reduce the gold layer, therefore exposing the metal that is underneath and possibly causing staining or even an allergic reaction.

If you plan to purchase gold earrings that you want to last a very long time, then make sure you buy a high quality item.

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In its native state, Gold is always a golden-yellow and is way too soft to wear.  That being said, gold is usually alloyed with other metals to increase its hardness for use in jewelry.   While there are many color varieties of gold on the market, rose, white, or green gold do not occur naturally, but are a result of alloying yellow gold with various other metals (copper, silver, zinc, nickel, platinum, palladium).

Pale or white gold results when either silver, platinum, nickel, zinc, or palladium are added.  White gold is actually "gray-white" almost steel-like in color and was originally developed to imitate platinum at a fraction of its price and is substantially harder than yellow gold. In the United States, nickel based white gold alloys are predominantly used by the jewelry industry. In Europe, both nickel and palladium based white gold alloys are used.  Most skin irritations caused by wearing white gold occur due to the nickel content.   If you like favor the look of white gold, be sure to ask your jeweler if the white gold is a nickel based alloy to prevent any potential allergic reactions.

 Adding copper yields rose, red, or pink gold and iron gives gold a blue tinge.  Blue gold is an alloy of between 18K to 23K yellow that contains the remainder karat weight in small amounts of iron and nickel.  The purity of alloy gold is expressed as its karat value, defined as the proportion of pure gold metal present in the alloy.  Therefore, 24K gold is pure gold (actually 99.99 percent as one cannot guarantee an absolute purity), 12K gold is 50% purity, 18K gold is 75% purity.