yellow gold

June’s piece- a classic pearl ring

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This June, we wanted to go classic.

And nothing is more classic then pearl. The birthstone for June, along with alexandrite, pearl is a soft organic stone that comes in all colors, but is mostly known for being white. Pearls have been appreciated for thousands of years, but for us they invoke images of glamour from the 1940’s and 1950’s, America’s good ole days and the timeless beauty of Marilyn Monroe.

This month’s featured piece is a yellow gold and pearl ring with diamond accents, a simply and classy look that should please any pearl fan. Click here to see its product page. Like all our featured pieces, it appears in our Ocala magazine ad for June and it is 25% off until our July piece is unveiled.

We hope you are enjoying the summer and staying cool. Keep checking back with us at Ocala’s best jewelry store website, for more jewelry, information, and education!

May we show you a lovely emerald piece?

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May is a great month for mothers and emerald lovers

And it seems that everyone we meet is an emerald lover! Emerald is one of the three most important colored gemstones classically (ruby and sapphire being the other two) and those who were born in May get the privilege of having it as their birthstone.

Of course, we love emerald too, and its no surprise that our most popular featured piece of 2017 was our emerald and yellow gold ring from May (which we still get inquiries and compliments on often from customers who saw it in our Ocala Magazine ad.) It was a daunting task to make another emerald piece that lived up to that standard. Did we succeed? You can be the judge and view our featured piece for this month, a lovely grass green emerald set in 18k gold, by clicking here. Its 25% off until our next featured piece in June.

If you would just like to know more about emerald as gemstone, you can check out more about it in our gemstone fact page for emerald, here.

This month is also special for all the moms in the world. Moms give year round and May 13 is the only day set aside on the calendar for us to give back. We hope you take the opportunity to celebrate that day in a special way. We know that its not always in the budget to buy a big piece of jewelry for Mother’s day but we find that a custom engraving is always a great and affordable gift.

Until next time, keep checking back with us at Ocala’s best jewelry store website, for more jewelry, information, and education!

We will be closed for Black Friday, Here’s a citrine to celebrate Thanksgiving!

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In a lot of places it’s starting to feel like Thanksgiving is becoming nothing more then Black Friday Eve. At Silver City, we always try to recognize that the most important things in life are family and friends, and so this year we will be closing from Thanksgiving through the weekend.

Karats or Carats?

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Easily the most confusing pair of words in the jewelry business, “carat” is a measure of weight equal to one-fifth of a gram while “karat” is the measure of fineness of gold. Today we’re going to highlight the difference between the meanings of karat and carat and how the confusing words came about. Both are pronounced the same as our favorite orange vegetable, “carrot”, but they actually came about from a different piece of vegetation- the carob seed.

 
Carob seeds were a seed that almost always grew to be the same size and weight as all the other carob seeds. Ancient jewelers found that they were small enough and consistent enough to be used to measure the weight of diamonds and other precious stones, thus they started measuring in “carats” which meant how many carob seeds the jewel weighed equal to. As technology developed, the weight was standardized to be 1/5 of a gram and is used primarily to measure gemstones. Everyone knows that a one carat diamond is fairly big, so jewelers divide carats into fractions of 100 called points. A 1/10th carat diamond is .10 of a carat or 10 points in weight. The earrings in the image above approximately 1 carat total weight, which means each of them are about .5 carats.

 
Its good to remember that carats are actually a measure of weight not size, and 2 different gemstones of the same dimensions will usually be different carats.

750 (18k) Mark On Cameo

 

 
Karat, the one that starts with a “K”, refers to the purity of gold out of 24 parts. Pure gold would be 24k, but nearly all gold made for jewelry is alloyed with other metals to make it stronger, improve its color, or in some cases to make it cost less. The term karat is believed to have come about when the Roman emperor Constantine minted a new gold coin that was 24 carats in weight. The amount of those 24 carats of weight that were pure gold was its “fineness” which means its gold purity.In the US most jewelry is 10k, 14k, or 18k, which are 41.7% pure 58.5% pure and 75% pure respectively. Different countries have different regulations, but nearly all gold jewelry should be marked somewhere with its karat.

 
On behalf of the jewelry industry, we at silver city apologize for the confusion caused by these terms being so similar and hope that this explains the different meanings and why they are used. Check back with us at silvercityjewelers.com for more informative articles like this if you like learning more about jewelry!

 

 

10k Mark On Clasp

What is Gold?

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Gold is one of the oldest and most valuable metals in the world. It has a bright yellow color and is very easy for jewelers to work with. Gold is the traditional metal for engagement rings and wedding bands.

What does karat mean?

Pure gold is extremely bright yellow and too soft for jewelry, so jewelers alloy gold with other metals to make a stronger, different colored alloy. These alloys’ level of gold purity is what karat refers to, with 24 karat being pure gold. 8 karat gold is 33% gold, and 67% other metals. 10k is 41% pure gold, 14k is 59% pure gold, and 18k is 75% pure gold. The higher the karat of the alloy, the yellower and softer the alloy is.

What karat gold is the best?

In the United States, 14k is the most popular karat for its color. 18k gold is a much brighter yellow and, while very popular in Europe, has been considered less attractive in the United States. 10k gold is also a popular choice because it is cheaper yet looks almost the same as 14k. Karats higher than 18k are considered to be too soft for jewelry in Western society, and anything lower then 10k is considered to not be real gold. In terms of durability, the higher karat gold alloys are softer but have a higher resistance to chemicals like household cleaners and acids that the human body produces. 10k is less likely to break when pulled on, but will slowly become brittle over time as the other metals in the alloy wear away. 18k is very easy to bend but can withstand chemicals extremely well. 14k is the middle ground of the two and is probably the best all-around choice.

Is 18k better then 14k?

No. 14k is the industry standard for jewelry because of its color and strength; it has nothing to do with it being more affordable. 10k, on the other hand, is used to save cost and is sometimes used in inferior quality jewelry. 10k is still very good for heavy men’s chains or bracelets that require each link to carry more weight.

What is white gold?

White gold is created when gold is alloyed with white metals, usually nickel, in order to make the alloy white instead of yellow. White gold is usually 14k or 10k and will have a yellow tinge to it. Some retailers and manufacturers thinly plate their white gold pieces with a brighter white metal called rhodium which will typically wear off in a few months.

Why choose gold for my jewelry?

Unlike silver or platinum, virtually every jeweler should be able to repair and service gold. Gold is easily recognizable, and its value is recognized in every country on Earth. It’s easy to clean, and jewelry made of gold can last for generations if maintained properly. For thousands of years, gold jewelry has been an important part of human culture and is treasured by people who appreciate legacy and tradition.

Are there any negatives to Gold?

Gold is the industry standard for jewelry that all other metals are judged against. Gold has no specific downsides for jewelry.