Jewelry questions

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I know very little about jewellery quality and have two questions:

1) Gold over silver jewellery: I've been noticing that department store lines of "fashion jewellery" (previously called "costume jewellery,"?) include some items that claim to be anywhere from 14 to 24 k gold over silver, yet are very inexpensive. I assume then that it is just a whisp of a micro-coat of gold. So how well will those pieces wear? Would the gold on, say, a bangle bracelet, be worn through after five or ten wearings?

2) Tarnish free .925 silver: Does this mean the silver has a varnish over it?

[disneysteve]

I believe the tarnish-free silver is zinc-plated and zinc doesn't tarnish.

[snafu]

Costume/fashion jewelry is colored gold or silver or colors from the rainbow. There is no control over quality so it could be long wearing or it could turn your skin green after a few hours.
I hope the following explanations helps.

Pure gold is too soft to work with very well. It loses its shape and is susceptible to damage. So gold is routinely mixed with other base metals (mostly silver and copper). The relative proportions of silver and copper influence the final colour. Lesser amounts of zinc, silicon, iridum and cobalt may also be added. Zinc, tin, cadmium and indium are sometimes added to lower melting temperatures to make detailed shapes and less valuable pieces.

Nickel and palladium are used in place of copper to make a white gold.

A carat is 1/24th of a part, so 14 carat gold is 14/24 (7/12ths) gold. 24 carat is pure gold.

14 carat works out as 58.3% gold, but by volume, the non-gold metals add up to most of the product. Some argue that 18 carat is best, because anything less than 18 carat (75% pure gold) carat is too prone to tarnishing, and more than18 carat the final gold product isn't durable.

[owenlove]

Yeah of course Gold Plated jewelry can be worn many times. And about the purity there carat matters 24k is pure gold and lower carats comea with impurity.

[sandyandry]

Originally Posted by owenlove

Yeah of course Gold Plated jewelry can be worn many times. And about the purity there carat matters 24k is pure gold and lower carats comea with impurity.

+1 I agree with you.