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Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and many people are shopping around for a piece of jewelry for their special someone. But with so many offerings now, trying to find out exactly what you’re buying can be a bit challenging. So if you’re looking for some jewelry 101, this guide’s for you. It’ll explain what all those terms you see in jewelry stores mean as well as what the different metals and stones that you’re likely to find are.
Metals
Unless you’re buying jewelry with very expensive stones (like high-quality diamonds or rubies), this is where most of the value of the piece is. There are many choices available on the market, and these are the most common:
Gold
Gold is the most probably the metal most commonly associated with jewelry. Pure gold (99.9% or higher) is 24-karat (24K) and is reddish yellow in color. But in this form, it’s too soft for jewelry. The gold in jewelry is typically mixed with other metals to make an alloy so that it’s harder and more durable. These are the common types:
- White gold: This is loose term for an alloy of gold that has a whitish hue. It’s typically gold plus at least one white metal like nickel, silver, or palladium. A common alloy for jewelry is gold–palladium–silver. Most of these alloys are not truly white. Instead, the white color you see is the rhodium plating that most jewelers put on the alloy to hide the off-white colors.
- Yellow gold: This is the kind of alloy that you normally associate with gold. It’s normally 18K and consists of 75% gold, 12.5% copper, 12.5% silver (or 75% gold, 15% copper, 10% silver for a darker yellow gold). 14K yellow gold is also available, and it’s more durable.
- Rose gold: Also known as red gold or pink gold, this is a gold alloy that has a noticeably reddish hue. How red the alloy is depends on the amount of copper in it. It typically comes in 18K, and there are a few varieties: 18K red gold (75% gold, 25% copper), 18K rose gold (75% gold, 22.25% copper, 2.75% silver), and 18K pink gold (75% gold, 20% copper, 5% silver). 14K and 12K alloys are also available, and they’re more durable.
Silver
The silver used in jewelry is sterling silver, which is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper or other metals. Pure silver is too soft for jewelry, so copper is added to increase its hardness. Although it’s much cheaper than gold, it’s prone to tarnishing.
Platinum
Platinum is a white metal that’s very durable, and it never tarnishes. However, it’s rare, and depending on demand, it can cost up to twice as much as gold. In jewelry, it’s typically a 90-95% platinum alloy.
Gemstones
Now for the part that defines most jewelry pieces: the stones. There are lot of terms the jewelry industry use when it comes to stones, so here’s all you need to know when you go shopping.
Grading
You may have heard of the “four C’s” used for grading diamonds before. They stand for color, carat, cut and clarity. However, many jewelers use some these grading terms for other stones too. Here’s what they mean:
Color
This is one’s used just for diamonds. It’s a scale going from “D” (totally colorless and most valuable) to “Z” (light yellow). If the color is more intense than Z or is not yellow, it’s a “fancy diamond”. These are graded by color.
Carat
This is simply the weight of the stone in carats. One carat is 200 mg. Be careful not to confuse it with karat, which is a measure of gold purity.
Cut
This is the shape of the stone. Some examples include round brilliant, pear, cushion, and marquise.
Clarity
This is a measure of how clear the stone is on the inside. Natural stones usually have some small bits of other material stuck inside them called inclusions. It’s just how the crystal formed. This is the most commonly used scale:
- FL (Flawless): No inclusions or surface flaws seen under 10x magnification
- IF (Internally Flawless): Same thing as FL except there are small flaws on the surface
- VVS1 and VVS2 (Very Very Slightly Included; VVS1 is more clear than VVS2): Has small inclusions that are hard to see at 10x
- VS1 and VS2 (Very Slightly Included; VS1 is more clear than VS2): Has small inclusions that are somewhat easy to see at 10x
- SI1 and SI2 (Slightly Included; SI1 is more clear than SI2): Has small inclusions that are very easy to see at 10x
- I1, I2, and I3 (Included; I1, I2, and I3 in order of decreasing clarity): Has obvious inclusions that can be seen without any magnification
Varieties of Gemstones
There are way too many kinds of gemstones to describe in this guide, so I’ll just go over the most common ones. When shopping, be EXTRA careful to check what kinds of treatments a gemstone has undergone. Treatments (Gemological Institute of America’s page on treatments here) like heating and irradiation are common and widely accepted, while other treatments like filling cracks with colored oil/resin/glass are controversial and can really hurt the value and stability of the gemstone. Here are some descriptions of common gemstones:
Diamond
It’s the hardest of all gemstones and probably the most famous. It’s a type of carbon crystal and comes in a variety of colors. Expect to pay a premium for a good quality diamond.
Corundum
Sapphires and rubies are just different-colored varieties of this mineral. The red color is reserved for rubies and all other colors are called sapphires. Rubies often have inclusions, so most are treated in some way. High-quality, untreated rubies are exceptionally rare and can be as expensive as the best diamonds, while sapphires are generally more affordable.
Beryl
Emeralds and aquamarines are different-colored varieties of this mineral. Emerald is green to bluish green, while aquamarine is blue to cyan. Emeralds are notorious for their inclusions, and most are filled with flaws. Expect most of them to be treated, likely with oil.
Alexandrite
This is an interesting type of chrysoberyl. It changes color depending on the angle and the type of light you shine on it. It typically changes from green to red, but there some that change into other colors too.
Topaz
It’s the hardest silicate mineral and is colorless or golden brown to yellow in its natural state. Treatments, such as irradiation, can turn it into other colors. For example, irradiation produces blue topaz. Topaz is pretty common, so it’s not going to be particularly expensive.
Opal
Opal is a weird form of silica that has a high water content. Precious opal typically has a vibrant, iridescent effect called “fire”. Since it doesn’t have a definite crystal structure, it’s often cut into cabochons (round or oval shape without facets).
Spinel
This gemstone was often confused for rubies in the past, and some famous “rubies”, like the Timur Ruby, were actually spinels. It comes in a variety of colors.
Tanzanite
Like alexandrite, it changes color depending on the direction and type of light. It alternates between blue, violet, and burgundy.
Tourmaline
This mineral is rarely colorless and comes in a wide variety of colors, often with two or more colors in the same crystal. One of the most common types is “watermelon tourmaline”, where green and red sections are in the same crystal.
Peridot
This is another name for gem-quality olivine, which as you might guess, is olive green. It really only comes in this one color with slight variations depending on the amount of iron in it.
Garnet
Garnets are quite common and come in a variety of colors. Reddish colors are the most common though. Some especially rare varieties, like the bright green tsavorite, are as valuable as rubies.
Zircon
Don’t confuse this mineral with the artificial cubic zirconia, though colorless, gem-quality zircons are also used as diamond substitutes. Zircon comes in a variety of colors, but large crystals are rare.
Quartz
Quartz goes by a lot of different names depending on what color it is. Amethyst (violet), citrine (yellow to yellowish brown), prasiolite or “green amethyst” (pale green), rose quartz (cloudy pink), smoky quartz (dark brown), and rock crystal (colorless) are the most common in jewelry. Though some very high quality crystals may have a high price, it’s generally one of the cheapest gemstones you can get.
Pearl
Pearls are biological by-products, not real gemstones, but they’ve found a place in jewelry because of their iridescent appearance and rarity. Generally, the larger and more round a pearl, the more valuable it is. They can also have different colors ranging from white to cream to black, depending on what species of mollusk created it.
Imitation vs. Synthetic
Natural gemstones can be quite expensive. That’s why numerous substitutes, in the form of imitation and synthetic gemstones, exist. But the two are not the same thing. Imitations are not the same substance that they are imitations of. They can be cheaper stones that happen to have similar properties, like cubic zirconia replacing a diamond, or even glass. Synthetics on the other hand are the same as the real deal. They are just grown in a lab instead of mined. These artificial gemstones are typically much more pure than natural ones and have fewer flaws. They’re also quite a bit cheaper. But synthetic gemstones don’t hold their value quite like natural stones, so if you want your jewelry to keep its value, natural stones are probably better. Otherwise, synthetic ones are a good alternative.
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Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_gold
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_silver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemstone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysoberyl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topaz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzanite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourmaline
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peridot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garnet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zircon
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My friend has been considering giving his colleague a farewell gift before moving into a new county. I like how you explained that there are jewelry metals known for their durability and appearance. I will suggest that we find a jewelry store that sells these someday.