Metals
Precious metals
- Gold (Au) – a major jewelry metal valued for its color, rarity, and resistance to corrosion. It can be yellow, white, or red (depending on the alloy).
- Silver (Ag) – one of the most popular jewelry metals, soft, silvery-white in color. Prone to oxidize (darken).
- Platinum (Pt) – a very dense, expensive, white metal, extremely resistant to oxidation.
- Palladium (Pd) – belongs to the platinum group of metals, silvery white, used as a white alloy for gold or as a separate metal for jewelry.
- Rhodium (Rh) – a member of the platinum group of metals, used as a coating (for display), providing shine and resistance.
- Iridium (Ir) – a very hard, rare platinum group metal, most often used in alloys.
- Ruthenium (Ru) – also a member of the platinum group of metals, used as an alloy additive to provide hardness.
- Osmium (Os) – the densest natural element, very rarely used in jewelry due to its fragility, more often as part of an alloy.
Semi-precious metals
- Copper (Cu) – an orange-red metal used in alloys with gold or silver to provide strength and color.
- Bronze – an alloy, mostly a mixture of copper and tin. Sometimes used in decorative jewelry.
- Brass – an alloy of copper and zinc, golden in color, cheaper than precious metals, used in costume jewelry.
- Nickel (Ni) – a silvery-white metal used in alloys (e.g., “new silver”), but often causes allergies.
Alloys and trade names
- White gold alloy – gold with palladium, nickel or zinc, giving it a white color.
- Red gold – gold with copper impurities.
- Rose gold – gold with a mixture of copper and silver.
- Green gold – gold with silver or cadmium, giving a greenish tint.
- Double (doublè) – a piece of jewelry where a thin layer of gold or silver is applied to a cheaper metal.
- Alpaca (nickel silver) – an alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel that resembles silver but contains no silver.
- Electron – a natural alloy similar to gold that contains silver.
- British silver – an alloy of silver with copper, with a higher silver content than standard sterling silver.
- Sterling silver – an alloy containing 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals (usually copper).
- Tumbaga – An alloy of copper and gold originating in South America, often used in ancient times.
- Pactol – a natural alloy of gold and silver found in nature.
Coating layers
- Display – rhodium plating of the jewelry.
- Gilding – coating a metal with a thin layer of gold electrochemically or mechanically.
- Silver plating – covering the jewelry with a layer of silver.
- Cladding – a thin layer of precious metal pressed onto a cheaper substrate.