SILVER

The silver is a white soft metal belonging to the noble metals group (these metals, unlike regular metals, are resistant to corrosion and oxidation. This metals group includes also gold, platinum, palladium and others). It has the highest electric and thermal conductivity of all metals.

Silver can be used for variety of purposes in different fields such as the jewelry manufacture, the electronic industry, photography and even for making explosives. In most cases the jewelry industry uses an alloy (combination of silver and copper) for making jewels.

STERLING SILVER

Sterling Silver is an alloy of 92.5% of pure silver, namely, consisting 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, mostly copper.

The purity grade of the alloy is millesimal, that is to say, denoted by parts per thousand of pure metal in the alloy.

Since the silver in its purity form is relatively difficult to be processed and can also be easily damaged, it is customary to work with an alloy.

The silver jewels have five grades of purity - 800, 835, 925, 926 and 999 thousandths.

The Sterling Silver alloy (named also silver 925) is the most prestigious and acknowledged for making jewels.

A jewel made of sterling silver is stamped with a unique trademark for the specific kind of the alloy.

Examples for stamps are: 925, ster, sterling, sterling silver.

GOLD

The gold is a metal known to mankind since the ancient times, and probably one of the early metals that the human being made use of. Wearing gold jewelry is used to signify the social status of the wearer and also plays a role in various ceremonies.

This metal is relatively rare, resistant to corrosion and of electrical conductivity – qualities that enable using it for various functions in the industry and technology world, in addition to the jewelry manufacturing.  Also, though being considered as a hard metal, the gold is easy to be processed. When mixing gold with other metals, different colors of gold (white, red) are received.

KARAT (Carat)

Karat is the measure to describe the purity grade of gold (and platinum) alloy.

Since this metal is quite soft in its pure form, it is customary to mix it with other metals in order to make it stronger and well preserved for a long period of time (primarily, when referred to a daily-wear jewel). The metals used to be mixed with gold are: silver, copper, nickel and zinc.

Karat is measured in units of 24 and stamped with the initial K.

24 karat = 100% gold, too soft for jewels

22 karat = gold, very soft, used also for jewelry, though not very recommended

18 karat = 75% gold, recommended and, indeed used for jewels of high standard

14 karat = 58.3 % gold, recommended for use in the jewelry industry.

ALLOY

An alloy is the mixing of two or more elements (mixture or solution mixing) that at least one of them is metal and the mixing result has also metallic properties. The formed substance will mostly have different properties than those of the component elements. For instance, Sterling Silver is an alloy.

CORROSION

Corrosion is a chemical process occurring in the metal, stemming from contact made with another material (oxygen for instance) or with acidic or very basic surrounding. The contact with the alien material damages and destroys the metal. (Therefore, for example, it is recommended to keep silver jewels away from home detergents).

Types of Settings

The following are the three common types of settings:

Pave – Setting of several small gem stones, attached to each other, covering large part of the jewel and creating a rich look and sparkling affect. The Tingles jewelry uses also micro-pave.

Prong Setting –Setting of central gem stone held by four or six prongs (like small metal sticks). This setting is most popular in rings or in solitaire earrings.

Basel Setting – Stone setting like a small cup surrounding the stone from all sides. If a white diamond is inlaid with white gold, the diamond looks larger than actually is.

DIAMOND

Diamond is a hard mineral consisting carbon only.

The diamond is formed inside depths of about 150 – 250 kilometers of the earth mantle, and in temperatures of about 1000° – 1200° Celsius. Most of the traded diamonds in the world come from Africa (Botswana, Sierra Leona, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, etc), but there are also big mines in Russia and Australia.

There are four main criteria that assist grading the diamond and affect its appearance (the gemology certificate has more criteria).

These criteria are known as the four Cs, based on the initial of each criterion: Cut, Color, Carat and Clarity.

Cut – considered to be the most important criterion as it has the utmost affect on the look of the diamond. This criterion actually examines the performances of the light beam penetrating the diamond. Thus, the diamond that is cut in proper proportions will be more sparkling. If the cutting is flattened, the light will move away from its lower part and, if it is too prolonged, the light will move away from its side. The light breakout affects the look of the diamond, causing it to be less illuminated and sparkling. 

The various grades of this criterion are: cut-cut, very good cut, good cut, fair cut and poor.

Color – the diamond's color relates actually to the diamond's absence of color, the more transparent it is, its color is more valued

The grading scale ranges from the initial D - the degree in which the color is most transparent (colorless) to the initial Z - the lowest color degree. The Color is the second important to the Cut criterion.

Caratis a weight unit for measuring gem stones. The source of this name is the seed of the cherub fruit that was used in ancient times for weighing gem stones (in Greek: kerátion (κεράτιoν). The use of the cherub seeds as weight unit derived from the thought in the distant time that they all had uniform precise weight.  

It should be noted that this criterion does not necessarily reflect the diamond size. One carat is equal to 100 points, half a carat equals to 50 points and so on and so forth. In the metric system, one carat equals to 1/5 gram. Examples for stamping the carat are – ct, ct 0.501.00, etc.

Clarity is the diamond pureness. In the process of forming the diamond, occasionally some inclusions like small pieces of dirt (sometimes microscopic) are left inside, thus affecting its appearance and its grade. This criterion examines the inclusions size and quantity in the stone. A diamond that has no inclusions, whatsoever, is very rare.

Certain diamond professionals think that this criterion has the least affect on the diamond appearance.

The grades of the pureness are:

IF-if and also Flawless: External or internal inclusions, and also internally flawless, namely, absence of internal defects. This situation is rare.

Vvs1-Vvs2: Very-very few inclusions, difficult for a skilled grader to distinguish under 10x magnification. It is an excellent quality stone.

Vs1-Vs2: Very few inclusions invisible without magnification.

SI1–Si2: Few inclusions visible when viewed under 10x magnification and sometimes can be visible to the naked eye.

I1, i2, i3: Existing inclusions in the diamond, mostly noticeable to the naked eye.

Pearls

The pearl is made from organic material, formed as a result of an alien element penetrating the shell (for instance, sand grain). The reaction produced by the pearl is secretion (of mineral and protein) that wraps the alien element with layer upon layer, until the pearl is created. (This layer is called Nacre). The Nacre gives the pearl its color and also its shine. 

The pearl's value varies with accordance to its size, form, lucidity, color and the type of the shell or the snail from which it was produced. 

The major places where pearls can be found are Japan, South India, Seri Lank, the Philippines, Indonesia, California Shores and Mexico Bay.

The main colors of the pearl are white, cream, yellow, rose, silvery and black. Sometimes it has a secondary color, for instance, a white pearl with rosy shade that will be viewed in a slightly more accurate examination.

The strong and deep shine of the pearl is called luster and it is received from the light reflecting (restored) from the many layers of the carbonate calcium crystals (nacre).

Natural Pearl:  Natural pearl is formed in nature without human intervention, when an alien element penetrates the shell that produces secretion around it, and consequently develops a substance.  In certain places around the world there are pearl divers that pull them out, but this procedure is expensive, and due to the fact that not each shell hides a pearl, when such a pearl is found, it is of a very high value.

Cultured Pearl: The process of its formation begins with the penetration of an alien element (tiny piece produced from another clam shell) into the pearl oyster. Then, it is placed in a netted facility inside the sea for duration of two-three years. Since this procedure is controlled by people, its rate of success is 50% higher than that of natural pearls production.

The large majority of pearls inlaid in jewels nowadays are cultured pearls, since the natural pearls are very rare.

Artificial Pearl: Made of plastic or from the Mother Pearl substance that was crushed and glued again.

GEM STONE

Made from a rock or mineral and sometimes also from rare fossils. For the purpose of embedding the stone in the jewel, it goes through process of polish after which it becomes more shiny, sometimes more lucid, with a more vital color and consequently, the financial value also goes up. The predominant gem stones are: Diamond, Emerald, Sapphire, Tourmaline, Ruby, Aqua Marin, Topaz, Grant, Smoky Quartz and Rose Quartz.