Fine jewelry, fashion jewelry and costume jewelry are the three basic classifications in the retail and wholesale jewelry industry.  Fine jewelry metals and stones are always the most costly.  The term “solid” gold is often misused.  EG:  14k solid gold is incorrect.  The only solid gold is 24 karat gold and contains no alloys or impurities and is relatively soft when compared with 18k, 14k or 10k gold.  In different cultures, the “k” abbreviation and the numbers of 18, 14 and 10 are not used.  18k gold is identified with .750;  14k gold is .585,  and 10k gold is not offered at all.

As gold is relatively soft, and sort of a “yucky” orange color when mined, it is strengthened with copper, zinc and antimony alloys and then “tinted” to achieve a certain “shade” of gold that is the most popular..  The most popular American choice in fine jewelry in both retail and wholesale jewelry is 14k gold.  This consists of 585 parts of “pure” gold, also known as “fine” gold, and 415 parts of the proper alloy metals.  18k gold and platinum are the next levels of popularity.  18k gold consists of 750 parts of fine gold and 250 parts of the proper alloy metals.  10k gold is the least costly and contains just 417 parts of fine gold and 583 parts of proper alloy metals.

Platinum is more widely used in many industries than in the manufacture of jewelry for the retail and wholesale industry.  Due to its very special qualities there are many platinum applications in chemical and manufacturing facilities and, of all things, in your automobiles exhaust system.  In its natural mined condition, platinum is not the least bit attractive.  It is a very strong, “greyish” metal and after extensive polishing can be electroplated with rhodium for a beautiful bright finish that is similar to the very best sterling silver metal finishes which we will cover in my next blog post along with “Fashion Jewelry” information.