小編最近在整理客人常問的問題，以便藉此寫成部落格文章讓大家可以清楚了解；畢竟，首飾的歷史最早可以追朔到16萬年以前的石器時代，位於地中海的海邊找到由石頭與野獸骨骸所串成的項鍊開始至今。而隨著人類生活習性的進化與審美觀念的改變，使用的材料也逐漸改為貝類、玉石...，甚至是黃金、白銀...等貴金屬。而且，這段長達16萬年的飾品歷史也與各國朝代的流通貨幣歷史息息相關；至今，在國際的金融市場裡，這些貴金屬也還是與國際貨幣有著無可分割的牽動關係。

 

而由於人類對飾品的精細度要求越來越高，玉石、寶石與各類貴金屬的相互搭配性也就越顯重要，因此進而需要以金屬混合的方式增加硬度來達到這些目的。所以，小編這次想藉著這篇文章來介紹常見的貴金屬與如何了解坊間對它們的標示與成份相關問題，相信對於您在購買飾品時，能夠提供您一些實用的資訊。但是在此之前，小編提醒您，坊間大部分的相關文章都是採用了中華人民共和國國家標準(簡稱國標，英文縮寫為GB)裡的貴金屬標準規範。在本文中，小編是依據中華民國行政院經濟部標準檢驗局CNS2968於2016年頒布的「飾物金屬之標示及成分」最新修訂版作為依據的喔。

 

 

萬變不離其宗 黃金、白銀、鉑金還是主要成份

 

要開始介紹飾品常用的貴金屬，就必須要先了解它們的成份中最為核心的幾種材料，那就是黃金、白銀、鉑金這3種。但因為純度越高的黃金、白銀、鉑金都有一個相同的缺點，那就是因為硬度太低並不適合直接拿來作為飾品。而其他在坊間所常看到的14K金、925銀、850鉑金正是因為要符合飾品除了「保值」之外，更需要達到的「可穿戴性」的要求而在其中加入其他少許不同比例的金屬來達成。

 

 

黃金和它的計算方式與成份

 

黃金為密度高、柔軟、抗腐蝕的黃色貴金屬(化學符號為Au)，它的延展性是已知金屬中最高的。而計算黃金純度以Karat為單位(縮寫為K)，並依含金比例分為24階(即1K~24K)，所以以純度來說1K就等於4.1666%含金量。一般來說，世界各國採用的飾品材料都不會低於8K，也就是說常用K金成分為17種(即8K~24K金)。但依照台灣的法規(CNS2968)中，實際使用在飾品的K金種類純度標示只有11種(詳見下方表列)，所以在此小編還是以國家標準為依據向各位介紹為好。另外，世界各國在24K金的定義一直存在著爭議，始因自然界不可能有真正100%的純物質，所以在定義「純金」的純度時可能存在各國標準不一的狀況，因此請您在購買貴金屬時要注意相關的標示。尤其，在2016年5月4日開始，中國國家GB標準明訂廢除千足金(99.9%純金)甚至是萬足金(99.99%純金)的標示，而改以足金(99.0%)為純金的定義，這明顯與台灣法令不同喔，還請您務必注意，因為這會關係到價格喔！

 

 

由於，純金的硬度跟指甲差不多，因此黃金飾品較其他貴金屬飾品更容易變形，如今演變成比其他貴金屬更多的標示需求。因為金工師需要將純金與其他金屬作合成形成合金來增加它的硬度，以便能做更多的飾品變化。通常來說，黃金會加入銀、銅、鋅等金屬來增加強度與韌性，以便做高級珠寶的鑲嵌或大件的飾品，而這樣製成的金屬就是「K金」，坊間常見的是18K金(75.0%含金量)與14K金(58.5%含金量)2種為主流，其他較為少見。一般來說，亞洲人較喜愛純度較高如22K和18K金，而歐美人較喜愛14K或10K金首飾，但近年來，亞洲人漸漸開始接受14K金飾品，目前依照貴金屬鑄造廠商的K金總生產量來說，14K金使用者的比例已與18K金相同了，原因是年輕人較接受14K金。雖然，在純度上越低者價格也越低，但14K金卻因硬度增加更適合打造複雜的首飾且更為耐用並同時兼具保值等好處。

 

 

K金與顏色的有趣關係

 

當K金符合含量標準的情況之下，為了豐富K金的變化，可以透過調節其他合金的比重來合成色彩豐富多變的K金，這就是K金受人歡迎的地方。雖然在日本著名的首飾雜誌《寶石四季》提及K金的配比有450種，而最常用的不過20種左右；我們今天就向您介紹其中較主流的黃、紅、白3種K金配方。

 

黃K金：為黃色貴金屬合金，由黃金和銀、黃銅調配而成。而運用銀與黃銅的不同比重來調節黃色色澤的深淺。

紅K金：為粉色貴金屬合金，由黃金和銀、紅銅調配而成，而紅銅是造成K金偏紅的主因。紅K金又被稱為玫瑰金。玫瑰金顏色艷麗且硬度高於純金、延展性強，而被用於首飾製造，又被稱為粉金、紅金和紫金。由於其在19世紀初的俄國被廣泛使用，因此也被稱為俄羅斯金或者俄羅斯紫金。

白K金：為白色貴金屬合金，由黃金添加鈀、銀等調配而成。由於白色K金呈現出白色，因此是最容易跟鉑金(白金)混淆的白色金屬，但卻是與鉑金完全不同的金屬。而且，由於白K金的主原料還是黃金，所以您務必要知道「白K金的色澤還是會帶黃色」，是絕對不能與鉑金和銀相比的。而坊間所販售的白K金飾品為何是白色的，其實就是它是再電鍍過的原因。若您買的白K金飾品在數年後感覺部分區域變黃，這是正常的現象，是電鍍層變薄最後不見後，真正的白K金露出來的原因，還請您購買前要務必要特別地考慮與注意的喔。

 

 

鉑金和它的計算方式與成份

 

鉑金(Platinum)雖然又稱為純白金，但小編建議您還是以鉑(ㄅㄛˊ)金來說它，以避免與白K金相互混淆，造成在購買時您與商家認知上的誤會。鉑金本身就是呈白色的貴金屬，價格比黃金還要高，年產量也只有黃金的3~5%而已；此外，它的重量也比黃金重，因此可以作為辨別鉑金與白K金的最簡單方式之一。另一個值得說的是，純黃金、純銀與純鉑金來說，鉑金的硬度較高，因此，以飾品應用所需的硬度來說，鉑金僅需要添加比黃金、白銀更少比例的其他金屬就能夠達到飾品要求的硬度，所以，您可以時常聽到飾品廣告中常說「鉑金飾品純度高值得收藏」就是這個意思。而國際鉑金協會明訂PT850以上才能稱之為鉑金，鉑金飾品的規格標示有PT950、PT900、PT850，其他純度比例的鉑合金較為少見。

 

 

白銀和它的計算方式與成份

 

銀是首飾品中用途最廣的，因為它是具保值性的貴金屬中價格最平民的。也因為如此，如CNS2968的標準裡常用的銀種類也屬於含量較高的4種類別。當然，在銀飾品裡，幾乎都是使用925銀；以此為例，銀含量92.5%並加入7.5%的銅金屬，讓銀的硬度增加而適合用於飾品上。

 

 

K金、鉑金的保養與清潔

 

因為小編在銀飾變黑怎麼辦？10個對抗銀飾氧化的方法超級比一比！一文中將銀飾保養清潔的方式說得很清楚了，而且銀的保養也與K金、鉑金有所不同；所以，在此只針對K金與鉑金來做說明。

 

平日保養：K金與鉑金飾品表面會因長期配戴磨擦而佈滿細小磨痕、降低亮度，平日可以用拭金布輕磨表面，即可有拋整效果。在此請您注意，銀飾所使用的「拭銀布」不同於用在K金、鉑金(兩者共用)的「拭金布」喔！使用時請避免使用錯誤。

一般清潔：可將K金、鉑金飾品浸泡在酒精中數分鐘後取出，一般的汙垢會和酒精一同揮發，浸泡完用清水沖洗，之後用棉布擦乾即可。

中度清潔：可先浸泡在酒精中讓汙垢和酒精一同揮發，再用牙刷沾中性清潔液或珠寶清潔液刷台座底部及細縫處擦去油脂，之後用清水沖洗，之後用棉布擦乾即可。

深度清潔：可以定期將K金與鉑金飾品送到專業的珠寶店利用超音波清洗器進行清洗；超音波清洗器利用其高頻的震動將污垢清除，既快速又方便。
極致保養：每2~3年重新做一次拋磨處理，首飾便能回復當初美麗而璀璨的光芒。
 
注意事項
要避免戴著K金、鉑金飾品洗澡、游泳、泡溫泉或去海邊(鹽水及氯水也會損害飾品) 。也避免與化妝品、香水等化學物質直接接觸，以免對飾品造成損害，建議在打扮的最後步驟才佩戴飾品。配戴後用乾布擦拭後收進夾鏈袋即可。

 

 

 

 

Gold, K gold? Platinum, white gold? After reading it, I finally got it!

by mittag jewelry

 

I recently sorted out the frequently asked questions from guests, so that they can be written into blogs then everyone can understand clearly; after all, the history of jewelry can be traced back to the Stone Age of 160,000 years ago, the stone and the skeleton were made to necklace was found on the Mediterranean Sea. With the evolution of human habits and the change of aesthetic concepts, the materials used have gradually changed to shellfish, jade...and even precious metals such as gold and silver. So far, in the international financial market, these precious metals are also inextricably related to the international currency.

 

Because humans have higher and higher requirements on the fineness of jewelry, the mutual compatibility of jade, gemstone and various precious metals is more and more important. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the hardness by means of metal mixing to achieve these goals. Therefore, we want to use this article to introduce common precious metals and how to understand their labeling and composition. We believe that this article provides some practical information when you purchase jewelry. However, before this, we must remind you that most of the related articles on internet adopt the precious metal standard specification in the National Standard of the People's Republic of China (abbreviated as GB). In this article, we based on the latest revision of the “Marking and Composition of Decorative Metals” issued by the Standards Inspection Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan), CNS2968, in 2016.

 

 

Gold, silver, platinum are the main ingredients

 

To start introducing the precious metals commonly used in jewelry, you must first understand the most core materials in their composition, namely, gold, silver, and platinum. But because the higher purity of gold, silver, and platinum has the same shortcoming, that is too soft and it is not suitable for directly use as a jewelry. The other 14K gold, 925 silver, and 850 platinum that are often seen in the market because they have added a few other different metal proportions to achieve the "wearability" requirements of the jewelry in addition to the "maintain value".

 

 

Gold and its calculations and ingredients

 

Gold is a high-density, soft, corrosion-resistant yellow precious metal (chemically known as Au), which is the most ductile metal. The calculation of gold purity is in Karat (abbreviated as K), and is divided into 24 grades (ex 1K~24K) according to the gold content ratio, so 1K equals to 4.1666% gold content in terms of purity. Generally speaking, the jewelry materials used in countries around the world will not be lower than 8K, which means that there are 17 grades of commonly used K gold components (that is 8K~24K gold). However, according to Taiwan's regulations (CNS2968), there are only 11 types of K gold purity labels actually used in jewelry (see the table below for details), so it is better to introduce them to you based on national standards. In addition, the definition of 24K gold in the world has always been controversial. It is impossible to have 100% pure substances in nature. Therefore, when defining the purity of "pure gold", there may be different standards in various countries, so please pay attention to the relevant signs when buying it. In particular, starting from May 4, 2016, the Chinese National GB Standard has abolished the mark of 99.9% pure gold or even 99.99% pure gold, and changed to 99.0% as pure gold. This is obviously different from the Taiwanese decree, please pay attention to it, because this will be related to the price!

 

 

Because the hardness of pure gold is similar to human nails, gold jewelry is easier deformed than other precious metal jewelry, and now it has evolved into more marking requirements than other precious metals. Because the goldsmith needs to combine pure gold with other metals to form an alloy to increase its hardness, so that more jewelry designs can be made. Generally speaking, gold will add silver, copper, zinc and other metals to increase the strength and toughness, so as to make high-jewel inlays or large-piece jewelry, and the metal thus produced is "K gold". The common 18K gold (75.0% gold content) and 14K gold (58.5% gold content) are the mainstream, others are rare. Generally speaking, Asians prefer higher purity such as 22K and 18K gold, while Europeans and Americans prefer 14K or 10K gold jewelry, but in recent years, Asians have gradually begun to accept 14K gold jewelry, currently according to the precious metal foundry, the proportion of 14K gold users is the same as 18K gold, because young people accept 14K gold. Although the lower the purity, the lower the price, but the 14K gold is more suitable for creating complex jewelry due to the increased hardness. It is more durable and has the maintain value. 

 

 

K gold and color interesting relationship

 

When K gold meets the content standard, in order to enrich the color change of K gold, it is possible to synthesize the K gold by adjusting the specific degrees of other alloys. Although there are 450 kinds of K gold in the famous Japanese jewelry magazine "Gemstone Four Seasons", the most commonly used is about 20 kinds; we will introduce you to the most popular yellow, red and white K gold.

 

Yellow K gold: It is a yellow precious metal alloy, which is made up of gold, silver and brass. The different proportions of silver and brass are used to adjust the shade of yellow.

 

Red K gold: It is a pink precious metal alloy, which is made up of gold and silver and red copper. Red copper is the main cause of K gold redness. Red K gold is also known as rose gold. Rose gold is bright and harder than pure gold and has a strong ductility. It is used in jewelry making, also known as pink gold, red gold and purple gold. Because it was widely used in Russia in the early 19th century, it is also known as Russian gold or Russian purple gold.

 

White K gold: It is a white precious metal alloy, which is made by adding palladium or silver to gold. Because white gold is white, it is the white metal most easily confused with platinum, but it is a completely different metal from platinum. Moreover, since the main raw material of white gold is gold, you must know that "the color of white gold will still be yellow", which is definitely not comparable to platinum and silver. Why the white K gold jewelry sold in the market is white? The answer is plating. If you bought a white gold jewelry after wearing a few years, it had some areas turned yellow. This is a normal phenomenon. After the plating layer is thinned, the real white K gold will be exposed.

 

 

Platinum and its calculation and ingredients

 

Although Platinum is also known as white gold, we recommend that you use platinum to avoid confusion with white K gold, which may cause misunderstandings between you and the merchant at the time of purchase. Platinum itself is a white precious metal, the price is higher than gold, the annual output is only 3 to 5% of gold; in addition, its weight is also heavier than gold, so it can be used as the easiest way to distinguish between platinum and white K gold. Another thing worth saying is that in pure gold, sterling silver and pure platinum, platinum has a higher hardness. Therefore, in terms of the hardness required for jewelry applications, platinum only needs to add a smaller proportion of other metals than gold and silver. It can meet the hardness required by the jewelry, so you can often hear the jewelry advertisement saying that "the purity of platinum jewelry is worth collecting". The International Platinum Association defines the specifications of platinum jewelry are marked with PT950, PT900 and PT850. 

 

 

 

Silver and its calculations and ingredients

 

Silver is the most versatile jewelry because it is the most inexpensive of the valuable precious metals. Because of this, the silver types commonly used in the standard of CNS2968 are four categories with higher content. Of course, in silver jewelry market, most used is 925 silver; take this for example, the silver content is 92.5% and the addition is 7.5% of copper metal, so that the hardness of silver is increased and suitable for jewelry.

 

 

K gold, platinum maintenance and cleaning

 

In the article “Amazing! 10 ways to resist oxidative blackening of silver jewelry comparison”, the way of cleaning silver is very clear explained, and the maintenance of silver is different from K gold and platinum; therefore, only K gold and platinum are mentioned here.

 

Daily maintenance: The surface of K gold and platinum jewelry will be covered with fine wear marks and reduced brightness due to long-term wear and friction. The surface can be lightly cleaned with a gold cloth daily. Please note that the "silver cloth" used in silverware is different from the "gold cloth" used in K gold and platinum (both shared)! Please avoid using wrong cloth.

 

General cleaning: K gold and platinum jewelry can be soaked in alcohol for a few minutes, and the general dirt will be volatilized together with alcohol. After soaking, rinse with water, then dry with cotton cloth.

 

Moderate cleaning: first soak in alcohol to let the dirt volatilize with alcohol together, then wipe the grease with the toothbrush and neutral cleaning solution or jewelry cleaning solution on the bottom of the pedestal and the crevice, rinse with water, then dry with cotton cloth.

 

Deep cleaning: K gold and platinum jewelry can be sent to professional jewelry stores for cleaning with ultrasonic cleaners. Ultrasonic cleaners use high-frequency vibration to remove dirt, which is fast and convenient.

Extreme maintenance: every 2~3 years, re-polishing, jewelry can restore the beautiful and bright light.

 

Precautions:

Avoid wearing K gold, platinum jewelry bathing, swimming, hot spring or going to the beach (saline and chlorine water will also damage the jewelry). Also avoid direct contact with chemicals such as cosmetics and perfumes to avoid damage to the jewelry. It is recommended to wear jewelry at the last step of dressing. After wearing it, wipe it with a dry cloth and put it into the zipper bag.