Chosing your gold and your precious stones
Choosing your gold
Gold comes in many different forms. We at Collection NH prefer to work with yellow,, white and rose gold of 18-karat to ensure our pieces have substantial quality to be considered fine jewellery and to ensure all our pieces retain it’s value for you and for the next generation. Simply, the more carats and therefore the purer the gold, the more valuable.
24-karat gold – or 99.99% pure gold – is the highest and purest grade of gold. It is soft, malleable and highly resistant to rust and tarnish. Therefore, its most common usage is in gold bars and coins for investment and wealth storage.
22-karat gold - is typically less expensive than 24-carat gold. It is more durable than its pure counterpart, making it ideal historically for the production of gold sovereigns. It is also found in plain jewellery.
18 karat gold - (75% pure gold) is the purest alloy available with high value and richest colour available for embellished jewellery. It is also suitable for fine jewellery given it’s durability and high percentage of gold allowing 18-karat gold to retail it’s value over time.
14 karat gold and below - are typical gold nominations for more common – and less expensive – adornments.
Is the 24 karat gold the best?
From different points of view, the answer can be both yes and no. As mentioned before, 24 karat gold is the purest form of the gold, but the 22 karat gold comes near that and it has a high value. Its structure is soft which makes it very easy to shape into different types of jewelry. Alongside its expensiveness, the 24 karat gold is not very durable and it might lose its good look very quickly. Therefore for plain gold jewellery 22 carat works while 18 karat gold is more appropriate for plain and embellished jewelry because of it’s endurance and is in high demand.
What is colored gold?
Since pure gold is highly malleable, it cannot be used for jewelry production by itself. To make practical jewelry that can withstand everyday wear, gold must be combined with other metals called alloys. Silver, copper, and palladium are the most common alloys used to solidify gold. When blended with varying proportions of gold, these alloys produce various shades and radiant hues.
Yellow gold is what most people think of when they imagine pure gold. Yellow gold comes in a variety of karats and price points as explained above. However, because pure gold is too soft to be used on its own, silver and copper are added in varying ratios to produce the yellow color seen primarily in jewelry.
White gold is actually a broad term that contains many colors of gold. White gold is produced by mixing pure gold with white metals such as silver, nickel, and palladium. White gold comes in a wide range of karats and, therefore, a variety of prices due to its diverse nature.
Rose gold is a gold-copper alloy closely related to red and pink gold. Differences are based on the ratio of gold to copper and whether or not silver is added. Since rose gold contains copper, it is not hypo-allergenic, so be sure you or the recipient will be comfortable wearing it.
What’s The Best Shade of Gold?
The best shade of gold is completely subjective and depends on personal preference, which can be based on individual style and fashion sense. While some may prefer a rich hue, others lean towards a pale tone.
While white gold engagement rings have been very popular for many years, yellow gold engagement rings will always remain a classic and timeless choice. In addition, the romantic and modern charm of rose gold ring styles is a gorgeous yet unique choice too, especially when paired with beautiful gemstones.
Ultimately, the best shade of gold is the one that complements the wearer’s skin tone, and aesthetic preferences, creating a stylish and treasured jewelry piece.
Choosing your precious stones
The world of gems is fascinating. At Collection NH, we work with precious stones of all cut and colour.
There are only four precious stones: diamond, sapphire, ruby and emerald. All other stones are therefore called semi-precious stones. This distinction is also due to their hardness, which translates into scratch resistance. One stone is harder than another if the former can scratch the latter.
Although Collection NH produces fine jewllery with mostly preciuous stones, the works of stones expand into semi-precious stones as well. Every other gemstone that isn’t one of those four is considered to be semi precious. The list goes on and on, but some of the more common ones are: alexandrite, agate, amethyst, aquamarine, garnet, lapis lazuli, moonstone, opal, pearl, peridot, rose quartz, spinel, tanzanite, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.
This separation between precious and semi precious has no real scientific backing. For example, emerald is a variety of a beryl, so are aquamarines. Emerald is precious while aquamarine is semi precious. When this categorization came about, it was mainly due to the value and rarity differences between the 4 precious gemstones and the rest. Today some semi precious gemstones can be worth much more than a precious stone. As an example, many natural pearls garner huge prices, often worth more than a low quality precious diamond, ruby, emerald or sapphire. Spinels are another example. Additionally, many semi precious stones can be more rare than some of the precious. Demantoid garnets or tsavorite garnets and many other semi precious gemstones are hard to find, harder to mine and produced in much lower qualities than the precious gemstones.
When purchasing a gemstone, we wouldn’t suggest getting too caught up on if the stone is precious versus semi precious. All gemstones are precious, in the sense that if they provide meaning and value to you in a piece of jewelry, they are special! Bare in mind that colors are subjective and a piece of jewelry is emotional.
Why choose sapphires
Rarity, uniqueness and one of a kind
Because of variances in shades, no two sapphires are alike even if they’re the same color, guaranteeing a one-of-a-kind ring; as inimitable as the relationship you share with your significant other. Sapphires come in a rainbow of colors, each with their own symbolic meaning. With a sapphire ring you’re getting a totally customized piece.
Rarity for a fair price- not inflated by marketing
Diamond prices have been kept afloat not by rarity, but by a combination of De Beers’ manipulation of consumer demand and marketing strategies like “A Diamond Is Forever.” Sapphires on the other hand enjoy a more reasonable price point, because the industry was never monopolized. Many individuals are involved in the sapphire trade, they don’t answer to one organization that determines the price of all stones. This allows demand and pricing for sapphires to be reached organically, therefore making these rare gems affordable to all.
Ethical
Sapphires, are mined in small family- or community-operated mines, which makes it easier to track who benefits from the sales of gemstones. Collection NH works with a family owned sourcing office in Sri Lanka, a significant sapphire source, we know the miners and the stonecutters who produce our sapphires. The large scale in which diamonds are mined and the political conditions surrounding mining areas, make it very difficult to track the source of diamonds. Sapphires really are the most ethical choice you can make when purchasing a stone for your engagement ring/ jewellery .
Durability
Sapphire (part of the corundum family) is a 9 on Moh’s scale of hardness, as such, it is incredibly scratch-resistant and strong. Other precious and semiprecious gemstones such as emeralds don’t possess sapphire’s superior physical properties, and are therefore not nearly as indestructible. An engagement ring with a sapphire is not only beautiful to admire, but will certainly stand up to the generations of use.
Retain / increase in value over time
This trend can certainly be seen at the world’s top auction houses, where sapphire sales are shattering records, at every auction held this year. Sales of untreated sapphires are trending upward, as consumers become more aware of the value of natural untreated sapphires. And of course, the recent surge in sapphire use in engagement rings and fine jewelry will only make the gemstone scarcer and therefore drive up its worth over time.
https://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/blog/5-reasons-everyone-is-buying-sapphires-for-their-engagement-ring
Colors and cuts
Sapphires come in a range of colors. At Collection NH we work closely with a family owned gem supplier who is able to source any stone of your choice. The following are a few significant colors of sapphires available. The beauty and rarity of sapphires is that all colors in between can be found too. Making your sapphire a one of a kind.
The shapes are not limited to Sapphires. While certain shapes will enhance the natural beauty of Sapphires, some may be best suites for other stones as well.
Cuts for precious/semi-precious stones
