Gold & Silver
We only use responsibly sourced materials to make our jewelry so you can be assured that Astartelux Jewelry isn’t created at the cost of our planet or the people we share it with.
We source these materials from a range of (ethic and fair trade) places so here is the down low on what materials we proudly use.
We love that materials such as gold and silver can be so wonderfully recycled. What was once cherished by one person can be melted down, redesigned and repurposed into a beautiful new piece for another person, giving it a new lease of life with a significant meaning.
Gold
Gold does not tarnish, rust or corrode. Due to its wonderful qualities and its luster, gold is considered the most important metal in jewelry making. As pure gold is too soft for everyday wear, it is alloyed with a mixture of metals in order to make the gold harder, so it can be used for jewelry. In its pure form, gold has a metallic luster that is deep yellow in color, but when mixed or alloyed with other metals, such as silver, copper, platinum, palladium, etc., then it meates various colors such as white, red, green, and the seldom found blue, purple and black.
Yellow gold
It is a classic. It has a very warm and elegant look and feels to it, especially when placed on the skin. Yellow gold is timeless and is a very appropriate gift when celebrating life's most important occasions. The final color of yellow gold can be influenced by varying the mixture of other metals that are added. Also, there can be a marked difference in shading based on the fineness scale. For example, a ring with a gold stamp of 585 is composed of only 58.5% gold and 41.7% other metals that give it strength, however, the yellow color of this gold ring is not as rich as that of a gold ring with a stamp of 750, which contains 75% pure gold. Yellow gold comes in all shades of yellow and which one to choose is a matter of personal taste. Lighter (greener) yellow indicates more silver alloyed with the gold. Darker (pinker) yellow indicates more copper alloyed with the gold.
Cleaning and care: Yellow gold is a very practical precious metal and it is the easiest when it comes to repair or resizing and refinishing. Extensive repairs can be done relatively easily without the fear of damaging valuable gemstones and diamonds because yellow gold has a very low melting point.
White Gold
It gets its color from mixing yellow gold with white metals such as silver and palladium, we do not use nickel, nickel has fallen out of favor among European jewelry sellers and producers due to allergic reactions. At Astartelux, we only sell high quality jewelry that follows EU Nickel Safety Regulations. White gold could be covered with rhodium plating to create a bright, pure white finish. Rhodium is a bright silver color metal from the platinum family of metals. It is very expensive and is only used in a plating solution. You will never see a piece of jewelry made from solid rhodium. As rhodium is only for plating, then you should consider that rhodium-plated white gold can “yellow” over time and may need to be occasionally replated with rhodium. The wear time depends on how much the jewelry piece is used and how thick the original plating was.
Cleaning and care: White gold rings are easy to resize if necessary, compared with titanium or platinum rings that can be difficult, if not impossible to resize.
White gold color will fade in time. The reason for this is that white gold rings are usually coated with rhodium to make them appear brighter and silvery. The rhodium does wear off eventually, so you need to get your white gold jewelry replated with rhodium, possibly as frequently as once a year. It does not take a long time and most professional jewelers offer this service.
White gold is often used for engagement rings or rings that contain diamonds. The white metal tends to highlight the diamonds, while yellow gold may give the stones a yellow tint. Rhodium plating makes diamonds look bigger and better because it's so bright and it glints like the diamonds.
Rose or Red Gold
Is an alloy of gold and copper that is sometimes also referred to as pink gold or rose gold. Since copper has a bold pinkish-orange color, adding this alloy to gold gives the gold a beautiful pinkish gold color. The varying percentage of copper used determines the color of the gold. The more copper is used, the stronger the red coloration. Red gold works well in all types of settings but is particularly appealing in vintage-inspired engagement rings and wedding rings. It can be combined with white or yellow gold to create a unique multi colored setting that appeals to the wearer’s creative side.
Despite its soft and romantic color look, red gold is the strongest of the three colors, since copper is very sturdy and the resulting alloy is tougher than yellow or white gold.
Cleaning and care: Red gold jewelry doesn't tarnish but like other gold jewelry it can collect dust and be dirtied or dulled by the oils in your skin, body lotion, makeup or other substances. Please follow our jewelry care instructions to make sure that your purchased jewelry keeps looking good for years. It is recommended to take your precious jewelry to check and get serviced by a jeweler on a regular basis.
Red gold is a fantastic choice for people with warm skin tones as well as for those with cooler skin tones. The red/pink color stands out beautifully against pale skin; however, it might not look as lovely as yellow gold does against darker skin tones. If your skin tone changes seasonally, red gold might be a great choice. You can wear red gold jewelry with your pieces in white and yellow gold without worrying about the metals clashing.
The Purity of gold
Pure gold is too soft for everyday wear, so it is alloyed with a mixture of metals like silver, copper, platinum or palladium to give it strength and durability. The content of gold is measured in karats and not in "carats", which is used to measure the weight of diamonds.
As the K number increases, so does the gold content and price. Karats represent how many parts, by weight, of pure gold is present in the 24 parts of the alloy. Below is the range of gold content: Purity or fineness scale in Gold:
24 K = 99.9% Pure (European Marking Fineness 999) too soft for fine jewelry.
22 K = 91.6% Pure (European Marking Fineness 916) too soft to hold the precious gems securely.
18 K = 75% Pure (European Marking Fineness 750) Ideal for fine jewelry
14 K = 58.33% Pure (European Marking Fineness 583) fine for jewelry.
What does a 750 stamp on gold jewelry mean? It is common marking in Europe, where 750 on a piece of jewelry signifies 18K i.e. 75% gold 25% alloy.
What does a 585 or 583 stamp on gold jewelry mean? A fineness of 585 or 583 on a piece of jewelry signifies 14K gold.
Silver
Pure silver is relatively soft, very malleable, and easily damaged, so it is commonly combined with other metals to produce a more durable product. The most popular of these alloys is sterling silver, which consists of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent mostly copper. High quality silver jewelry is stamped with a fineness of 925.
Cleaning and care: Silver tends to tarnish fairly quickly and since it is soft, it may dent or lose its shape. It is very important to take good care of your silver jewelry, regular polishing with a silver cleaner can be a quick and easy solution for keeping it from tarnishing.
To minimize scratches and other damage, store your silver jewelry either in a cloth pouch or in a separate compartment in your jeweler box. If you have a silver piece that you do not wear very often, tarnish can build on its surface. It's important to clean tarnish off before it builds up. Otherwise, it can cause long term damage to your jewelry. Avoid exposing your silver to household chemicals or when swimming in chlorinated water, as these chemicals can damage silver.
