METAL ALLOYS, What makes up Metals
Yellow Gold contains Gold, Silver, Copper, Zinc
Pink Gold contains the same metals as yellow gold, but has a higher percentage of copper that gives it the pink or rose hue.
Green Gold also contains the same metals as yellow gold, but a higher percentage of silver gives it a green look.
22k Gold has the 24k look but is made harder for jewelry and dental use by adding 8.3% alloy
24k Gold is a very soft and malleable metal in its pure form. It can be made slightly harder by drawing or rolling the metal.
White Gold contains gold, copper, nickel, and zinc. Most alloys use nickel as the whitening agent. The metals are whiter than palladium white golds but are not as malleable
Palladium White Gold (14k & 18k) are superior to white golds alloyed with nickel. The palladium gives the white gold a slightly grayer color than nickel white gold.
Pure Platinum is very malleable. For jewelry use, 10% iridium is added as a hardener.
Palladium is one of the platinum group metals. The others are iridium, platinum, ruthenium, osmium, and rhodium. Pure palladium is soft and malleable which makes it very good for pave work. 5% ruthenium is added to harden the palladium for jewelry use.
Fine Silver is very soft and malleable. No other metal has this white color, although .999 fine silver can tarnish over time. Sterling silver is used for jewelry because it is more durable than fine silver. 92.5% fine silver is alloyed with 7.5% copper to make sterling.
