Gold
<p style="text-align: justify;">Gold has been used for coins, decoration, and jewellery for thousands of years. It is easy to work and resistant to acids and tarnishing.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Gold is available in 9ct, 14ct, 18ct and 22ct finenesses. 14ct gold is popular abroad, particularly in the U.S.A, but is used infrequently in the U.K. 9 ct yellow gold is a metal alloy which contains 37.5 % pure gold and copper, zinc, and silver. 18 ct yellow gold is a metal alloy which contains 75% pure gold, copper and silver.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">9ct gold is slightly harder than 18ct gold because there is less pure gold, which is soft, in the mix. The advantage of 18ct gold is its rich yellow colour due to being 75% pure gold. 22ct gold is a beautiful colour as it is 91.6 % pure gold. It is a traditional carat of gold for wedding bands, but its soft nature makes it less suitable for some types of jewellery. Gold is also available as rose gold, which is an alloy containing pure gold and copper to give it a red tinge and white gold, which is an alloy containing pure gold and silver to give it a creamy colour. Some white gold jewellery is plated with rhodium, to make it that little bit whiter. The rhodium plating wears off over time and causes the white gold to return to its natural creamy colour.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">We will re-rhodium plate any white gold jewellery purchased at Nicholas Wylde free of charge.</p>