The season of giving gifts is upon us. It is time to make our list, check it twice and head out in search of those perfect tokens that represent our love and friendship. If you plan to give the gift of jewelry, there are plenty of reputable jewelers in Manhattan that can help you make the right decision. It is important to know the basics about the metals that go into making fine jewelry. Having this knowledge before you start seriously shopping the jewelers in Manhattan will make you a more informed consumer.
Gold, more so than platinum, titanium stainless steel and silver, is still the most common metal used to create jewelry. It is, by far, the most popular metal when it comes to men’s and women’s engagement and wedding rings. Additionally, gold is used extensively in make earrings, dress rings, necklaces and bracelets.
When looking for gold sold by jewelers in Manhattan, there are two considerations about gold for you to know: the carat and the color (or the combination of colors).
The carat is the gold content in the metal. It describes the ratio of pure gold that is combined with other metal alloys to create the final metal. Carat can be spelled karat and represented by K or kt. The higher the proportion of gold used in the metal, the more costly that metal will be. The most expensive gold is 24 carat, which is pure gold. All descriptions of a gold’s weight– 10 carat, 14, carat, 22 carat, etc– in the metal are based upon this number. For example, gold that is 10 carat means the remaining 14 carats are not. To find out how much gold there is on 10 carat, you would divide 10 by 24 which would give you a ration of .416. Converting this to a percentage means that 10 carat gold is 41.6% gold by weight.
Gold is also a softer metal and so men’s rings are not usually made from 22K or 24K gold. 9K, 14K and 18K, which are harder since there is higher proportion of other metals in the final metal, are the types of gold used to create men’s wedding rings. 9 carat, 14 carat and 18 carat gold are considered hard and sturdy metals and are suitable for fine jewelry that can be worn every day. The hardness of a metal is measured on a Vickers scale. The harder the metal, the higher the score.
Gold is available in a variety of different colors. Yellow gold is the most popular, then white gold followed by rose gold. Lesser known colors include bronze, red and lime gold. Yellow gold is mixed with copper and zinc. Rose gold is made by mixing copper. White gold is has silver and palladium added. Jewelers in Manhattan sell gold not only in these colors but in a combination of them. Gold sold in multiple combinations are called two-tone, three-tone and multi-colored gold.
