Metals commonly used in making rings

There are several metals used in making quality rings. This treatise will discuss two of them, gold and silver.. Other materials are used but designer rings will normally only rely on the previously mentioned four. Two of the primary criteria for selecting the proper metal is looks as well as wear ability. Both gold and silver have been known to cause allergic reactions making this metal unsuitable for use for that person.

The most common metal, by far, for rings is gold. There are many varieties of this metal, from yellow to white. One of the more non-traditional forms is black hills gold. Although not necessarily inexpensive, it is often less costly than it's counterpart. Gold, by itself, is too soft to be used as a ring. Thus it is mixed with other metals. Pure gold is 24 karats, and the least gold measurement is 10 karat. By definition, the amount of gold is the difference between the numbers. For example: and 18-karat ring is 18 parts gold and 6 parts of other metal or metals.

Silver is the counterpart to gold. Like gold, silver is a soft metal and is used with other metals for hardening purposes. The finest rating for silver is fine and is 99.9 per cent silver. Sterling is just below fine in ratings and is 92.5 % silver, 7.5% copper. Lesser-ranked are: Mexican silver, German silver, Indian silver, Montana silver and just silver. Nickel silver contains no silver. None of these have any guaranteed pure silver content however. To test for silver content, scrape away, in a non-visible area, any plating. Pour a drop of nitric acid on this spot. Sterling silver will display a creamy color while lesser values and silver alloys will display a greenish tint because of the high quantity of copper. .

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