Being someone who can neither wear gold, nor copper, I am only slightly jealous of you folks that can do both. I personally like the pink in the gold -- but always feel the need to give a very lengthy "how to care for rose gold" in the card I write each of my customers.
It's tough -- 14k gold filled in and of itself is a unique (ish) product -- having the top 40 or so percent of the actual piece being 14k gold bonded to usually sterling silver or a base metal. That keeps the cost down -- without the threat of chipping like Vermeil. Don't get me wrong -- Vermiel is nice, but it just doesn't look as rich to me as 14k gold filled does.
Plus -- with my sensitive skin -- I have to be very cautious about what I am making items with -- I am so very allergic to most metals (especially base metals) that there is not very much in the way of other metals in my shop.
Really it's personal to me -- I don't stock it, if I can't really work with it.
Enter the new addition (a couple of years ago at least) of 14k Rose Gold Filled -- so now we can keep the cost down -- but still have to worry about the care. Because of the copper -- 14k Rose Gold filled will tarnish with age -- becoming a darker pink generally. I haven't seen it darken beyond that, though I imagine some other funky colors could happen -- I mean think of a penny or anything copper -- weather does weird stuff to it.
So the care of it -- right? You have to polish it with a cloth. I would generally say use a spray cleaner -- since it's so darn easy -- but since I have had some issues with copper and spray cleaners, I would steer clear. But I usually use a very simple jewelry polishing cloth -- and I store everything in plastic baggies completely dry. That keeps the tarnish from not happening -- since it's mostly weather (and Pacific Northwest weather to boot) that causes the "rose" part of the gold to tarnish.
 | |
| Ethiopian Welo Opal in 14k Rose Gold Filled |
 |
| Mookaite Jasper Necklace in 14k Rose Gold Filled |
 | |||
| Emerald Green Onyx in 14k Rose Gold Filled |
 |
| Heart Post Earrings (Shown in 14k Rose Gold Filled) |
So -- just doing a cursory search in my shop for "rose gold" -- there is quite a bit of variety (and will be more in the coming weeks since I have to make an order soon).
So -- if you can wear gold and copper -- enjoy the Rose Gold of the season, which is likely to be popular (if history shows us what lasts) for the next several years.
~Maggie~
No comments:
Post a Comment