| A guide
regarding gold and silver jewelry:
Sterling Silver:
One of the three "precious metals" along with gold and platinum
which has been used to make jewelry for thousands of years.
Silver has a lustrous white color but needs polishing
occasionally because silver reacts with sulfur in the air to
cause tarnishing. Tarnish should be removed before it builds up
with polishes specifically formulated to remove tarnish, which
can be found at any hardware or craft store. Silver is harder
than gold and much more plentiful, but still too soft in its
natural state to be of much use as jewelry without being alloyed
with a harder metal. Silver has the highest thermal and
electrical conductivity of the metals and is widely used in
coinage, photography, dental and soldering alloys, electrical
contacts, Silver Jewellery and printed circuits. Like gold,
silver can be alloyed with other metals to improve its
durability. Sterling silver is the industry standard containing
925 parts silver and 75 parts of another metal, usually copper.
Pieces made from sterling silver are marked 925 to assure silver
content. Sterling silver can be used to plate other metals. The
alloy itself does not effect the value of the jewelry, which is
instead determined by the labor and craftsmanship involved in
making the piece.
Store silver pieces separately in soft cloth bags or original
boxes to keep them from being nicked or scratched by contact
with other items and protect them from exposure to harsh daily
elements. Silver can be damaged by exposure to common cleaning
solutions such as bleach, ammonia, or chlorinated water.
Karat Gold:
A yellow precious metal which is valued for its beauty and
purity since it does not oxidize or tarnish like most other
metals. It has been used for coins and jewelry for over 6000
years and from this has become regarded as a symbol of wealth.
Gold is very ductile and is the most malleable of all metals. It
can be cast into huge statues or beaten into wafer thin sheets
of gold leaf. This malleability makes it too soft to be used in
jewelry without being alloyed with other metals. Gold is often
alloyed with silver, copper, and/or other metals to improve its
strength and durability.
Green gold: An alloy made of gold mixed with copper, silver,
zinc and often cadmium. The copper is what gives it the greenish
tinge. It is commonly used with enameling to strengthen the
color of the gold when set beside the bright enamels.
Rose gold: An alloy of gold mixed with copper, which gives it
a red tint.
White gold: An alloy made of gold mixed with nickel,
sometimes also containing palladium or zinc. White gold
resembles platinum, but they have very different properties and
prices.
Yellow gold: The most popular gold alloy made up of gold,
silver, copper, and often zinc.
Products made from gold are marked to show how much actual
gold is contained in the product. Much of the jewelry
manufactured before the 20th century do not have these marks and
must be tested to determine purity.
Items marked 24K are 100% pure gold. Pure 24k gold is soft
and easily bent.
Items marked 18K or 750 have 750 parts gold out of 1000, or
75% pure gold. Be sure to choose 18k gold for beauty and
durability.
Items marked 14K or 585 have 585 parts out of 1000, or 58.5%
pure gold. 14k gold is mixed with other metals for strength, but
this dulls its color.
Items marked 10K or 417 have 417 parts out of 1000, or 41.7%
pure gold. This is the legal karat limit in the United States
for an item to still be considered real gold.
The karat weight of the piece, combined with the design and
construction, is what determines the price of gold jewelry. The
more actual gold that is included in the item, the brighter the
color and the higher the value.
To clean gold jewelry, use a soft bristled brush with a
solution of warm water and detergent-free soap. Do not use harsh
chemicals such as chlorine and cleaning fluids as they can be
abrasive and reduce the gold's luster. Store gold pieces
separately in soft cloth bags or original boxes to keep them
from being nicked or scratched by contact with other items and
protect them from exposure to harsh daily elements.
Pierced
Body Jewelry:
Pierced Body Jewelry is
simply jewelry designed to be worn on or in any part of the
body. While all jewelry is technically worn on the body, the
term "Body Jewelry" is typically used when referring to belly
rings, nose studs, toe rings, tongue bars, and for jewelry
designed for pierced lips, eyebrows, nipples, or any skin
surface.
The human body does not usually react well to having a hole
punched in it and stuffed with a hunk of metal, so great care
needs to be taken to insure that an infection does not occur at
the site of your new piercing. The studio where you were pierced
will likely provide some type of antiseptic ointment when you
have it done. Neosporin or something similar will work just as
well. Squeeze a small amount of ointment onto a Q-tip and gently
dab it onto where the piercing both enters and exits the skin
twice a day. Gently rotate the jewelry to make sure that it is
not sticking to your skin. After getting pierced avoid touching
the piercing for a few days and be very careful to not get it
caught on anything. This is the number one way people get small
rips around the actual piercing area. Not only are these rips
extremely painful, but they also increase the risk of
infection.
If your piercing does become infected, don't panic. Infection
does not necessarily mean you will have to remove it or that it
will scar. Keep the piercing clean and apply the ointment twice
a day. If the infection does not clear up within a week, you
should have a professional remove it so that the jewelry is
still usable if you decide to try again. Many professional body
pierces will put jewelry you already have in for free or a
much-reduced price.
If you must remove it yourself, be careful. A ring will have
a ball where the two ends connect. Gently lift up on the top of
the ring, until it pops free of the ball. Do not use pliers as
they can damage your skin and the ring. A bar will have a ball
at the top that you can simply unscrew and gently pull the bar
out. For more information regarding body jewelry, please see the
article
Body Jewelry In Your Future.
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