Further Information - METALS

Metals - Diamonds - Ring Shapes - Sizing - Engraving - Made To Fit

The following information has been designed to help you make the perfect choice.

Yellow Gold 24 Carat 100% gold

Gold is a yellow metallic element, but in its pure form it is too soft to be used for general jewellery purposes. Therefore, most gold jewellery needs to be alloyed with other metals to provide the best combination of strength, appearance, and resistance to tarnishing.

White Gold Alloys

white gold is an alloy of various metals with 18ct being a greyish white in colour and 9ct having a yellowish tinge. Many of the differing shades of white are use as a design feature in the LouLou ranges(see sideline). The colour and effects of tarnishing is dependant on the on the metals components. For example most 9ct White gold has a high-level of silver which is some rare cases react with its environment or (owner) and produce a surface discolouration or tarnishing. At LouLou Jewellery we use high quality metals with high levels of Palladium in the white gold alloys providing a brighter whiter more inert metal that does not require Rhodium Plating.

22 Carat

High quality with a wonderful colour, 22 carat contains 91.7% gold. Alloyed with silver and copper.

18 Carat

75.0% gold, alloyed with silver and copper.

14 Carat

Containing 58.3% gold, 14 carat is an improvement on 9 carat, however it can still tarnish and become brittle. Alloyed with silver, copper and zinc.

9 Carat

Containing 37.5% gold, 9 carat consists of more base metal than gold. In rare cases it may tarnish and turn green or blackish tinge. 9 carat is alloyed with silver, copper and zinc and some may be effected more by its elements preventinge its use for ear piercing etc.

Rhodium Plating

We do not rhodium plate unless specified as we feel that the quality of our product does not require this processes. Our rings are the same colour all the way through and do not require regular re-plating as is the norm with most other high street jewellery.

Rhodium is an extremely bright and highly reflective element. It is common practise to rhodium plate all white gold jewellery, and some platinum.

When the rhodium plating wears through, the colour of the actual "white" alloy can be seen. This varies from grey, through to distinctly yellowish grey.

On some jewellery, yellow gold alloys are rhodium plated. When the plating wears out, the natural yellow colour of the alloy appears.

Platinum

Platinum is a wonderful and popular choice of metal for wedding rings. If you prefer white coloured rings, then platinum is the perfect choice for you.

Platinum is naturally "white" (silvery grey), and is extremely strong and hard-wearing. In addition, it never discolours or tarnishes and with a low "spring-back" rate makes it ideal for stone settings.

Palladium

Thanks to sophisticated new alloying methods we are pleased to offer palladium as a new stand-alone metal for many of our rings.

This rare transition metal is a close relative of platinum and naturally white in colour . It does not need to be Rhodium plated and there are no difficulties with sizing or diamond setting, it is much lighter than platinum and less expensive on par with 9ct gold making it an increasingly popular choice.

Matt or Polished

All of our wedding rings are available with a various levels of matt or polished finish. Inevitably, with age comes wear and tear. Wedding rings with a matt finish will become shinier with wear, whilst small scratches will appear on a polished finish.

We will re-matt or restore the original polished finish of your ring at any time, free of charge.