yellow gold. that''s it. just YG!

[rainbowtrout]

Hey guys--

I have a question(s) for you. What should one look for in quality of yellow gold? Not white, not plat--JUST yellow gold?

Is 19K better? What about 18k and 14k? How does it work with keeping in stones (security--I thought perhaps it would ''bend'' like plat)? Why does some gold look more ''mellow,'' some ''brighter,'' and some sort if dingy?

How does it work with pave?
How would it make the sapphire look?

There was also an old thread asking for saphs in YG---does anyone have new pics of sapphires in YG? I''d love to see them!


I''m making this a seperate thread bc I have searched and searched through old threads on this and most of them head off in the white metals after a brief stop in at yellow gold. Please bear with me, I HAVE tried to go through and glean bits of info from other threads, and yes, I''ve seen the SMTR thread on gold wedding sets.


THANK YOU !!!!! I know the metal questions can get repetitive.

 

[rainbowtrout]

https://www.pricescope.com/forum/jewelry-pieces/i-was-naughty-yesterday-and-bought-something-nice-t37164.html


here is one of my absolute fave YG pieces on the boards, and probably one of my favorite pieces period...it looks like an ancient Roman bracelet or something to me, but new. I love the way the gold looks!

 

[AGBF]

I am going to direct you to the land of yellow gold. It is not in Rocky Talky!

Do You Have A Favorite Gold designer?



Deb

 

[movie zombie]

ah, you like that look, too!

personally, the higher the karat the better i like it. 14K next to 18K looks like costume jewelry to me.

check this thread for more gold lovers: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/do-you-have-a-favorite-gold-designer.29197/

and see this for more info on the differences: http://www.jewelrycentral.com/Target_Gold.html

i''ve seen 14K gold that was pink pink pink and then i''ve seen it when it was merely slightly red looking. all depends on the amount of additives.

i like high gold 22K lots. and then there was a 19K red gold ring i saw up on union street in san francisco that was just a warm gold color and to die for.

i also believe its all a matter of personal taste. forget the warm stone with warm metal/cold stone with cold metal ''rule''. its what you like that counts.

movie zombie

 

[movie zombie]

deb, you beat me to it....i was too busy typing!

movie zombie

 

[valeria101]

I know nothing about 19kt YG, 18 and 14... 'guess either is a safe bet for just about anything. Perhaps I wouldn't love the idea of a wiery and very high four prong setting in gold. Most likelt platinum is not hedging all bending bets with some of those either, unless the prongs are very thick.

Pave surely looks great on yellow gold - it does give a somewhat different look than it does on white metal because the white diamonds do not blend into the background so to speak. And this effect is well exploited on pieces of jewelry using larger diamond paved surfaces - stones of different sizes (and sometimes of different shapes too) are used to highlight the design. (left picture below)

Yellow pave does blend in like white does on white metal. I see more and more of that - and it doesn't need to be intense yellow for that job. (but it is intense' in the picture to the right above).

Sapphires on YG... there are a couple on ArtOfPlatinum. And at least one on the ColoredStone forum here (a beauty of an emerald cut sapphire). To me, the warm colored metal makes sapphire blue stand out beautifully (they are nearly complementary colors for a reason).

Here's an example .. of what rough& tumble 22k gold looks like with a light sapphire

From Malcolm Betts.com

And less 'rough' - 18k.

One lats bit: there are quite a few different 'colors' of yellow gold around, from some pale yellow to rather deep color, similar to unalloyed gold. I am not versed in telling which is done with what. You may find samples online ('green', 'peach' or 'orange gold' and no-name shades of yellow), but I usually don't find the colors very true to nature, especially comparing pictures with what the metal looks like polished.

My 2c

 

[rainbowtrout]

hmmm...I did look at that threat but I saw mostly pieces and designers and less about the metal itself..I am re-trolling it though...

 

[AGBF]

I am behind in posting photos I have promised to post in Jewelry Pieces. I recently had a diamond I had been keeping in my safety deposit box set in a custom-made, hammered, 24K gold ring. I need to get a picture of that. I am also soon going to be in receipt of a Gurhan spessartite ring and earrings that I asked Bill Pearlman to have Gurhan make for me. After they come, I will have to photograph them!

Rainbowtrout, please join us there!!!


Deb

 

[valeria101]

What questions about ''just the metal''? Let me see if I can get anywhere with these...

Date: 2/9/2006 7:35:00 PM
Author:rainbowtrout

Is 19K better?

It is a new beast. This one I do not know anything about.


What about 18k and 14k?

There must be dozens and dozens of alloys. I am not convinced there is any general difference between the two. Either more or less yellow color (or any other shade you can think of as ''gold'') seems to be available in either.



How does it work with keeping in stones (security--I thought perhaps it would ''bend'' like plat)?

Not much to say here: gold has a longer record than platinum has for any possible sort of jewelry use. If some designs would simply not work in gold but do in platinum - those must be some rather extreme choices (thinking of very high settings or very thin (1mm shank?) ones.



Why does some gold look more ''mellow,'' some ''brighter,'' and some sort if dingy?

Not sure what you mean... I guess ''mellow'' and ''brighter'' are a matter of surface finish and polish - neither necessarily a matter (only?) of what alloy is used but how it was worked. But ''dingy''? Low alloys (10kt...) may get a patina as the alloy metal unavoidably tarnishes. Otherwise, beats me.



How does it work with pave? How would it make the sapphire look?

Hope the previous post helps a bit.

Re. different alloys of YG I wouldn''t dream looking into that. It is all alchemy to me

 

[AGBF]

Date: 2/9/2006 7:35:00 PM
Author:rainbowtrout
Is 19K better? What about 18k and 14k? How does it work with keeping in stones (security--I thought perhaps it would 'bend' like plat)? Why does some gold look more 'mellow,' some 'brighter,' and some sort if dingy?

You can find technical information elsewhere. I believe Movie Zombie posted a link for you. There are many others all over the Internet. I will tell you what I know from personal experience.

I grew up in the US, thinking that 14K gold was normal. On the high end, one could always get 18K. 18K was standard for jewelry from cetain upscale jewelry stores. I never gave durability a thought. 14K was pretty much indestructible.

My engagement ring and wedding band were bought in Italy and were, thus, 18K. Just because the Italians use 18K as standard. I also bought other jewelry in Italy over the years: some yellow gold and some rose gold. I never found its durability a problem.

Recently I have become enamoured of high karat gold. I now own jewelry in both 22K and 24K gold. I have seen pictures of 19K gold, but I think it is just a marketing ploy. Americans tend to think 18K=High End, so 19K must be even better. In reality, people usually cannot tell, without testing, what the karatage of gold is. Thai gold has recently been found to be lower in karatage than billed, but no one noticed for years.

The gold on the backs of my 22K earrings bends if I try to force it. 22K is really different in durability than 14K or 18K. 24K (which I own and wear) seems to me to be very similar to 22K. Jewelers have told me that 22K is a tad bit better at holding jewels in place.

Although some pieces of 18K gold appear more deeply gold, yellower, mellower than others, I generally find that the higher the karatage, the yellower the gold. As to why some pieces appear brighter than others: I cannot know without seeing them, but polish may be a factor. I have gold pieces finished in many different ways.

Be very careful setting precious stones in soft (i.e. high karat) gold. I have done it, but some jewelers recommended against it. The jeweler who recently set a diamond in 24K gold knows me well and knows I am very easy on my jewelry. One can't bang a diamond or sapphire set in high karat gold around the way one can a 14K or 18K!

I hope this helps.


Deb

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 2/10/2006 4:35:36 AM
Author: AGBF

Be very careful setting precious stones in soft (i.e. high karat) gold. I have done it, but some jewelers recommended against it. The jeweler who recently set a diamond in 24K gold knows me well and knows I am very easy on my jewelry. One can''t bang a diamond or sapphire set in high karat gold around the way one can a 14K or 18K!

Deb

Wow you actually set a diamond in 24K gold. What is it for? It can''t be a ring, right? I would be afraid to touch it.

I grew up in Asia, and my grandmas, mom and aunts only bought 24k gold jewelry. They don''t really consider anything less real gold because they are not pure. But then again, there are usually no stones in their jewelry. 24k gold are much brighter and don''t fade like 18k or 14k sometimes do.

I don''t think you would have any problem with setting stones in either 18k or 14k. I agree that there isn''t really much different between 19k and 18k.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 2/10/2006 3:30:51 PM
Author: qtiekiki
Wow you actually set a diamond in 24K gold. What is it for? It can''t be a ring, right? I would be afraid to touch it.

It''s a ring. Gurhan sets a lot of stones in 24K rings and I wanted to put a diamond in a ring Gurhan designed with an orange spessartite. His company refused to do it with my diamond, so I asked my local jeweler (Grunberger''s) to make it up and they did. I have to get a picture of it up here!


Deb

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 2/10/2006 8:48:56 PM
Author: AGBF

Date: 2/10/2006 3:30:51 PM
Author: qtiekiki
Wow you actually set a diamond in 24K gold. What is it for? It can''t be a ring, right? I would be afraid to touch it.

It''s a ring. Gurhan sets a lot of stones in 24K rings and I wanted to put a diamond in a ring Gurhan designed with an orange spessartite. His company refused to do it with my diamond, so I asked my local jeweler (Grunberger''s) to make it up and they did. I have to get a picture of it up here!


Deb

I would love to see a picture. You must be really careful with your jewelry. I know if it''s me, the diamond would''ve fall out already.

 

[lumpkin]

Union Street Goldsmiths -- OMG it reminds me of ancient Egypt with all the bezel set rubies and sapphires in yellow gold. It''s sooooooooo rich and lovely the way they matt the finish on the gold. I can''t understand not loving yellow gold. The below picture with the yummy pink sapphire makes my heart skip a beat!

 

[AGBF]

This is the orange spessartite ring that made me want to have the diamond and yellow gold ring made. It was a Gurhan, "One of a Kind" item, not something one could buy off the shelf. Recently I decided to ask Gurhan make me a ring like this (with an orange spessartite), too. It is en route to me from Bill Pearlman along with 24K earrings set with tiny orange spessartites. Eventually I can post two photos of 24K rings: one by Gurhan and one made in the style of Gurhan with a diamond! (That diamond had been loose in my safe deposit box for YEARS! It was so good finally to have it set!)

 

[lumpkin]

I can''t wait to see. I love that hammered finish.

 

[cflutist]

Date: 2/9/2006 7:35:00 PM
Author:rainbowtrout
Hey guys--

How would it make the sapphire look?

There was also an old thread asking for saphs in YG---does anyone have new pics of sapphires in YG? I''d love to see them!

Here is a picture of a sapphire in 14K YG:

 

[blodthecat]

Here in the UK white gold is very, very popular at the moment.

However, I predict that like all new trends, people will slowly gravitate back to yellow gold. 18k being the prefered, as it has a wonderful yellowish lustre.

Blod

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 2/11/2006 7:30:35 AM
Author: AGBF


This is the orange spessartite ring that made me want to have the diamond and yellow gold ring made. It was a Gurhan, ''One of a Kind'' item, not something one could buy off the shelf. Recently I decided to ask Gurhan make me a ring like this (with an orange spessartite), too. It is en route to me from Bill Pearlman along with 24K earrings set with tiny orange spessartites. Eventually I can post two photos of 24K rings: one by Gurhan and one made in the style of Gurhan with a diamond! (That diamond had been loose in my safe deposit box for YEARS! It was so good finally to have it set!)

That''s a very pretty ring. It''s going to be bezel set. Before I saw the picture, I keep thinking prong set and the thought of the prong getting caught and being bent was very scary. Bezel set wouldn''t have that problem, and it makes more sense.