Diamond Pendant in 14k Yellow Gold - Editor's Pick of the Month
Gold, which is a chemical element, is a sought–after extremely valuable metal used in jewelry. Gold jewelry is something every single woman dreams of.
Well, now-a-days it is a common thing to have a jewelry piece in gold as it is possessed by most of us. It is used as in ornamentation and in sculpture also. As gold is chemically resistant to air, moisture and corrosive reagents it is molded in coins and jewelry; and also used as a protective covering on most reactive metals. It is not chemically inert and can be dissolved in aqua regia.
Gold comes in various colors but the color of pure gold is metallic yellow. Alloys are made by adding palladium or nickel which are important for making the jewelry as these produce white gold. Manganese, aluminum, copper, indium and iron are also used to make alloys with gold to get more colors for different applications.
As we know, 24k gold is the pure form of gold and it is very soft. To make it useful for jewelry purpose it is alloyed with base metals which alter its hardness, its color, malleability, ductility and various other properties. Alloys which contain higher percentage of silver, copper or other base metals have lower carats typically 22k, 28k, 24k or 10k. Copper is basically used in gold alloys and it gives reddish color to the gold jewelry.
18k gold has 25% of copper and generally used in antiques and in Russian jewelry. In specialized jewelry blue and purple color are used which can be produced by alloying with iron and aluminum respectively. White gold is produced by alloying gold with palladium, silver or other white metals but it costs very high so the white gold made by using nickel is preferable.
