There is no doubt that gold is still considered number one as far as most investors are concerned, and the gold market continues to thrive. In fact, since the great economy crash more and more people are both selling gold and buying gold. While gold continues to be popular for jewelry, and especially wedding rings, other precious metals are gaining, or even overtaking gold, in the popularity stakes. Let us take a look at the main metals used in jewelry today.

Platinum

Platinum has made a huge impact on the jewelry market over the last decade, particularly in men’s wedding rings. Platinum is much harder than gold and so is seen not only as attractive but also more hard wearing. Platinum is also a lot heavier than gold and quite a lot more expensive. Because of its expense many designers choose to incorporate platinum into designs that use gold as well, particularly white gold. The cool whiteness of platinum also makes it a very popular choice in engagement rings as it accentuates the brilliance of diamonds. Where once diamonds and gold seemed the ultimate combination platinum has taken over.

Titanium

Titanium is the hardest metal known to man. It is incredibly tough but also very light. For a long time titanium was used only for things like space technology and for bone replacements and plates in surgery. Now it is finding its place as a choice in jewelry. Like platinum it is a popular choice for men because of its durability and tough image. Many women are also leaning towards titanium because of its lightness. Titanium is naturally a grayish white color but special technologies are also used to produce black titanium as well. While men seem to really like titanium it could be some time for most women to let go of our love for gold jewelry in all its color forms.

Tungsten

This relative newcomer to the jewelry scene again plays on the ‘tough’ aspect. Tungsten looks attractive, is virtually scratch-proof and does not carry as high a price tag as Platinum, Gold, or Titanium. Tungsten carbide jewelry is polished after forging and stays polished. This no-dent, no-scratch, permanent polish is admired for its low-maintenance as much as its looks.

Silver

Many people prefer wearing silver to gold, especially for everyday wear. Traditionally silver is not seen as appropriate for engagement or wedding rings, but is fine for just about any other kind of jewelry, from nose studs to toe rings and everything in between. Just as you would look for a karat stamp on gold jewelry sterling silver will be marked with the numbers 925. Silver can be very attractive, but it does tend to tarnish easily and so needs to be cleaned frequently. Some silver jewelry, especially necklaces, will be electroplated with radium or other metals to keep them looking shiny for longer.

Gold

For many people gold remains the metal of choice when it comes to jewelry, with or without diamonds or other precious stones. Gold jewelry comes in a variety of colors and mixes of colors and an almost unlimited number of designs.

If you can’t make up your mind which precious metals you prefer you could of course always buy chains, and rings that combine one or more of the metals in different colors.

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Tags: gold jewelry, platinum, precious metals, silver, tungsten

This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Gold Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.