What you need to know before you purchase jewelry online? Part I: materials!

Not like before, people prefer to go to the offline shop to see and feel the products in person, while now people are inclined to purchase jewelry online because of the huge convenience. But not knowing the quality and material might be the biggest reason to hold people back from shopping online. So here are some facts about the jewelry material that you need to know before you purchase, so you can buy the perfect jewelry that is suitable for yourself!

Jewelry can be generally divided into 2 types: Fashion jewelry and fine jewelry. These two types of jewelry stand for different market positions, so there is no absolute saying which one is better.

Fine jewelry is usually made from precious materials like pure gold, platinum, natural gemstones like diamonds, rubies, emeralds, etc. With classic and timeless design, it is made to last for a lifetime and even be passed down for generations. So the price for fine jewelry is always higher than the usual jewelry.

Fashion jewelry, instead, is usually made from commonly acquired materials like brass, copper, and artificial gemstone. It is created to be wallet-friendly. Fashion jewelry, just as its name, is always designed into trendy and fashionable pieces and is mainly created for daily wear. People can choose different fashion jewelry pieces to match their outfits on various occasions.

Metal jewelry materials:

Silver:
Silver is a very common metal in the jewelry business for its lightweight and its durable properties. Based on sliver content, generally, it can be divided into 925 silver, 99 silver, and 999 silver. 925 silver, also called sterling silver, means that it must at least contain 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metal which typically is copper which makes the product more hard and durable. The difference between 925, 99, and 999 silver is only the percentage of the silver. The higher percentage of silver the jewelry contains, the softer the jewelry will be, which makes it hard to shape and keep. So most of the jewelry used 925 silver, which is also known as sterling silver.

U7 jewelry also uses the 925 silver to produce its product. You can see there is a 925S logo engraved inside of the ring to show its purity.

Gold:
Just like silver, gold is also a very popular metal in the jewelry business. Karatage is the unit to measure the purity of gold, or how much gold is contained in a piece of jewelry. The higher the K in a gold item, the pure the gold in it would be. 1 karat of gold is about 4.166%. So 24k, 22k, and 18k gold contents are 99.99%, 91.65%, and 74.98%, and the rest parts are other metals like silver, zinc, nickel, or other alloys.

Thus, 24K gold can be seen as pure gold already. However, pure gold is too soft to be shaped into jewelry that can be worn every day. When it comes to the best types of gold to make jewelry, it is commonly believed that 18k and 14k are the best choices for those two types combines a good balance of durability and luxurious appeal together.

Cr: east meets dress

Chinese brides wear the traditional pure gold (999 gold also known as 24k gold ) bangle on their wedding day. Those pure gold bangles are so easy to blend and twist so they have to wear them very carefully and after the marriage, they never wear them again because of their fragility. 

Platinum:
Platinum is a silver-white, high dense rare metal. Because of its hardness and durability, it is always seen to be used on the engagement ring and diamond ring which represents eternal love. Platinum is hard enough to hold the diamonds. It is also known for never tarnishing and is not easy to fade into yellow color.

 Credit: HarryWinston--The One Round Brilliant Diamond Micropavé Engagement Ring. The diamonds were set in platinum.

Stainless steel:
Stainless steel, a durable, rust-resistant metal that is not oxidation, is usually seen on fashion jewelry. Unlike other metals, it does not fade and keep shining even if you wear it every day and under the water. And it won’t make your skin turn green or black so it’s safe to use for those who are easy to get allergies because of other metals. However, it could possibly fade in color when exposed to harsh environments or some special chemicals.

U7 has a lot of products that are made into stainless steel jewelry. And in order to let the jewelry has more colors option, U7 sometimes will use the gold plated or black color plated to make the jewelry. 

So we have talked about the major metals that are usually used in jewelry. To conclude, silver and gold are easy to fade and easy to blend if they are pure enough, on the opposite side, platinum and stainless steel are not easy to fade and hard enough to hold daily wear. But platinum is way more expensive than stainless steel. In the next passage, we will also talk about the gems that are commonly used in jewelry. After knowing the material and comparing the price, I believe that you can easily pick the jewelry you want on the internet! Let's start with U7 Jewelry now!