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What to
Look for When Buying Fine Jewelry
Author: Temp
For centuries,
fine jewelry has been one of the most popular gifts that people buy
for all kinds of special occasions. While buying fine jewelry and
fine gemstone jewelry is enjoyable for many, a lot of people can find
the task rather daunting. Why, you ask? Well, there are a couple reasons.
First off, the
decision to buy fine jewelry, including designer jewelry and
handcrafted designer jewelry, is a quite expensive one and one that
should not be taken lightly. Even if you have all the money in the
world, it still helps to be educated on fine jewelry, and all of the
terms used in the industry.
Secondly, with
all of the fine jewelry and designer jewelry collections available
out there, one can literally spend hours figuring out what type of
jewelry to buy. Necklace or ring? One carat or two? Yellow gold or
white gold? Designer jewelry or designer inspired jewelry?
In order to
make your next fine jewelry venture a great one, here is some
information that will aid you in getting the best quality jewelry for
your money, whether shopping in a traditional fine jewelry store or online.
Gold Jewelry
Dense, shiny
and the most malleable and ductile of the known metals, gold is one
of the most popular choices for fine jewelry. When used by itself,
the word gold means all gold or 24 karat gold. Because it is soft, 24
karat gold is commonly mixed with other metals by jewelry designers
to increase its hardness and durability.
One can learn
about what proportion of gold is mixed with other metals based on its
karat quality. For instance, fourteen karat jewelry contains 14 parts
of gold, mixed in throughout with 10 parts of base metal. Hence, the
higher the karat rating, the higher the proportion of gold is in the
piece of fine jewelry.
Although karat
marking is not required by law, most reputable designer jewelry and
other fine jewelry are marked with its karat quality. Next to the
mark should be the trademark of the company that stands behind the
mark. A quality piece of fine jewelry will always have the trademark
name, symbol, or initials. The term ‘solid gold’ refers to
an item made of any karat gold, if the inside of the item is not hollow.
Platinum,
Silver & More
Platinum is
one of the most expensive precious metals used to make fine jewelry.
It is preferred by jewelry designer Peretti, as well as several other
fine jewelry designers. More expensive than gold, platinum is
typically mixed with other similar metals that are known as the
platinum group metals: iridium, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, and osmium.
As compared
with gold fine jewelry, different markings are used on platinum odern
designer jewelry as well. Quality markings for platinum are based on
parts per thousand. For instance, the marking 900 Platinum refers to
the fact that 900 parts out of 1000 are pure platinum. This can also
be shown as 90% platinum and 10% other metals. When making fine
jewelry, designer jewelry, or designer inspired jewelry, the
abbreviations for platinum used are Plat. or Pt. Any fine jewelry
items that consist of at least 950 parts per thousand pure platinum
are allowed to be marked as platinum.
Silver or
sterling silver refer to fine jewelry that contains at least 92.5%
silver. Oftentimes, silver products such as handcrafted designer
jewelry are marked “925,” which means that 925 parts per
thousand are pure silver. All quality-marked silver is required by
law to bear the name or a U.S. registered trademark of the company or
jewelry designer that will stand behind the mark.
Fine gemstone
jewelry pertains to both natural gemstones and laboratory-created stones.
Fine jewelry
made with real or natural pearls are very rare. They are made by
oysters and other mollusks. Because they are so rare, most pearls
used in fine jewelry are either cultured or imitation pearls.
Cultured pearls refer to those grown by mollusks, but with human
intervention. Imitation pearls are man-made, typically with glass,
plastic, or organic materials.
Diamonds
And last but
not least in the fine jewelry arena are diamonds – perhaps the
biggest seller of all for all types of designer jewelry and replica
designer jewelry. The value of a diamond is based on the widely known
“4 C’s,” which stand for color, cut, clarity, and
carat. The clarity and color of diamonds are typically graded using a
number of different systems. Diamond weight is typically stated in
carats, and can be described in decimal or fractional parts of a carat.
Many designer
inspired jewelry and replica designer jewelry use imitation diamonds,
which are know as cubic zirconia in their fine jewelry. They largely
resemble diamonds but are much less costly and far less valuable. |
