Precious Metal Guide
AJU offers jewelry made with Precious metals like gold, sterling silver and vermeil.
SOLID GOLD JEWELRY
Yellow Gold
In its most pure form (24k) gold is soft, almost orange in color, scratches easily, breaks easily and not durable and is altogether too weak to work with. Because of this, alloys are added to create a more structurally sound metal that mixed together, is known as “solid gold. ”Yellow gold boasts the rich hue for which gold is famous, and its luster is beautiful. The amount of pure gold in the jewelry depends on its karat. The higher the karat, the greater the purity. Yellow gold is also the most hypoallergenic of all gold types. Yellow Gold has symbolized prosperity, love, and achievement across cultures.
Rose gold
Rose gold is an alloy made from a combination of pure gold and copper. The blend of the two metals changes the color of the final product and its karat.Rose gold is a lovely alloy of gold and copper, with a lustrous blush-pink tone. It's not considered hypoallergenic and does require more polishing than other golds to maintain its shine.
White gold
Pure Gold in its natural state is yellow. In order for white gold to appear white in color, gold must be mixed (also known as alloy) with a white metal(s) like nickel, palladium or silver which makes white gold a light grey color. To give white gold its sought after sheen, it is then rhodium plated.
To determine the karat gold used in a piece of jewelry, check its markings, also called as its hallmark. This is usually found on the inside of the shank or the reverse side of a pendant, earring, or bracelet.
STERLING SILVER JEWELRY
So, what makes buying silver a good investment? : Silver is a Valuable Asset.
Once considered even more valuable than gold, today silver is the most affordable of all the precious metals. Because pure silver is too soft to be used in jewelry making, it's mixed with copper or other metal to create sterling silver, which is more durable. Sterling silver must contain at least 92.5% pure silver, which is why it is stamped as .925. You can find this hallmark on the inside shank of a sterling silver ring or stamped on the back of jewelry.
VERMEIL JEWELRY