Gold
Gold is used as an accent in beaded jewelry, as the primary color scheme, or can be teamed with other metals. While gold is expensive for most beaders to use, there are ways to use gold in your work that will add richness to the style and quality to your jewelry pieces without breaking your budget. Below are overviews of the most widely used types of gold, ranked from most to (generally) least expensive to purchase. (K refers to karat, the method of measuring gold content.)
24K: Pure gold. Must be stamped with 24K symbol or 999. Pure gold is very soft and is not used often for jewelry.
18K: Contains 75% gold, 25% alloy (such as nickel, copper, silver, or zinc). Identified by 18K or 75 stamp. Used in fine jewelry.
14K: Contains 50% gold, 50% alloy. 14K gold is the type used most commonly for fine jewelry.
Gold Filled: Gold filled jewelry is actually 12K gold. Gold filled beads and wire are affordable and significantly better quality than vermeil and gold-plate. Wear of the gold color will take much longer to occur than either vermeil or gold plated items. Technically, base metal covered with gold can be considered gold-filled if it at least 1/20th of the item is gold.
Vermeil: Sterling silver with heavy gold electroplate, at least 2.54 microns. Vermeil (pronounced ver-may) top coats of gold will eventually wear away, but the wearer is left with a sterling item, not base metal.
Gold Plated: Usually base metal with a thin layer of gold applied to it. The coating of gold is less than seven-millionths of an inch, and with daily use, wears away quickly. A suggestion to extend the life of a gold plated bead is to use it in designs where it will not rub against skin, clothing or other materials.
Gold Toned: Craft quality wire and metalicized plastic beads may have a coating of paint or other material to make them appear to have a gold color. Be cautious when using or buying very inexpensive gold beads to be sure they are not plastic with a metal coating that will quickly wear away. Craft quality wire and metalicized plastic beads are suggested for children's crafts (check for any lead content before using!).
