gold and its colors
Gold and its colors
Pure gold is very malleable, an excellent electrical and thermal conductor, inert and almost insensitive to oxidation and corrosion. It does not tarnish over time. Being very dense, that is to say almost 20 times the density of water, we need little space to store it: 1 kilo is equivalent to the volume of a small smartphone. Everywhere on Earth, pure gold still has this unique color that differentiates it, a yellow tinged with orange with an intense shine.
It is most commonly used in jewelry, consuming the majority of the world's annual production. Pure gold (1000 thousandths) or 24 carat gold, although used for centuries in jewelry, produces jewelry that is more fragile over time than those made with gold alloyed with other metals. Also there are several alloys available: 916 thousandths gold or 22 carats gold has the advantage of being harder than pure gold but the disadvantage is that it remains too soft to set precious stones that may be lost over time. Nowadays in luxury jewelry, it is the gold 750 thousandths or 18 carats that is most used and mixed with alloys to increase its hardness and durability.
It is the mixture with alloys of other metals which allows to give reflections of colors so particular. The metals of the most used alloys are silver, copper, platinum, zinc, palladium, manganese... By playing on the proportions of these different metals and others, one obtains nuances of colors which support a greater creativity in the development of the jewels. These different reflections of colors are at the service of creativity.
The different colors obtained by different alloys for gold 750 (18 carats):
Yellow gold: 75% gold + 12.5% silver + 12.5% copper.
White gold: 75% gold + 25% silver and palladium.
Pink gold: 75% gold + 5% silver + 20% copper.
Green gold: 75% gold + 25% silver + cadmium.
Red gold: 75% gold + 25% copper.
Blue gold: 75% gold + 25% iron.
Purple gold: 75% gold + 25% aluminum.
Black gold: yellow gold + electroplating with black rhodium.
Please note that Rêves de Rebecca jewels are only in yellow gold, white gold and pink gold. All the jewels of Rêves de Rebecca are in gold 750 thousandths, that is to say 75% of pure gold and 25% of alloy of metals.
There are other concentrations of gold such as 14 carats gold (585 thousandths), 10 carats gold (416 thousandths) and 9 carats gold (375 thousandths). But these grades are insufficient to make high quality jewelry. Their main advantage is the lower price of the jewel by a lesser presence of pure gold. Below 9 carats the gold oxidizes because of its alloy and the jewelry is considered as costume jewelry.
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