每個人都喜歡用美麗的飾品裝扮自己，傳達自己與眾不同的個性與風格。但是在選購飾品時，您是否也被五花八門的材質種類弄到懷疑人生......小編知道，因為小編還沒入行前也常常踩雷，莫名其妙買到會讓自己過敏的飾品，或是買到表面是一種金屬，磨損後發現底材卻是另一種金屬，這種被騙的fu深深影響著小編，後來購買飾品只選擇購買自己信任的品牌，再也不敢隨興亂買。所以這篇文章就是用小編刻苦銘心的經歷（還有白花花的鈔票）堆疊出來的，看完後建議大家可以把自己飾品櫃拿出來好好檢視一遍。

一般來說，飾品金屬材質大約就是以下幾種：金、銀、銅、合金（常見鉛銅合金、鎳黃銅合金、鉛錫合金、鋅合金等等...），接下來就依照這些金屬來解說。

 

純金軟又黃，K金更能符合市場需求

黃金是最被追捧的金屬，因為它的經濟價值使得其地位始終高高在上歷久不衰。黃金的性質穩定，不易被腐蝕，不易氧化所以也不易變黑（但是另一方面也因為黃金太安定的特性不易與其它元素結合，所以配戴黃金對人體的益處反而沒有比配戴銀飾的效果來得好，因為銀離子有很強的殺菌功效，同時也會吸附人體表面附著的鉛，所以銀飾廣受歡迎是可以理解的）。黃金的缺點是太軟易變形，以及太黃澄澄顯得太財氣難以駕馭並難與膚色、穿著搭配，所以衍生了K金，它的出現同時改善了硬度與顏色。K金常見有18K、14K以及10K（24K為最高含量，18K代表18/24為黃金）。K金數字越低代表含金量越低，所以顏色會比較不那麼黃，硬度也比較硬。想更深入了解可以閱讀 "黃金、K金！白金、白K金！傻傻分不清楚？看完我終於搞懂了！"

 

白銀保值又平價，常戴、清潔是關鍵

接下來是銀，銀是首飾品中用途最廣的，因為它是具保值性的貴金屬（金、鉑、鈀、銠...）中價格最平民的。銀不易被腐蝕，顏色好搭配，但是銀不如黃金和鉑金穩定，所以缺點是銀製品會有氧化變黑的缺憾，所以正確的清潔、收納方法是需要知道的（但其實也有許多客戶是喜歡銀黑的，還會特地要求我們將其首飾硫化）。銀跟黃金一樣柔軟，也因為如此，在銀飾品裡幾乎都是使用925銀（銀含量92.5%並加入7.5%的合金），讓銀的硬度增加而適合用於飾品上，而國際市場上也都定義925銀為純銀。但是要特別提醒大家的是有些人會在玉市裡或是出國旅行的時候買到很便宜的銀，稱作「藏銀」；這裡一定要提醒大家必須知道藏銀其實不含銀，而是白銅製作的飾品，是以鎳為主要元素的銅鎳鋅合金，顏色為銀白色，雖具有銀色的外觀但不包含銀的元素，下次可別被誤導了喔~

 

紅銅難保養，黃銅似金但易過敏

再來是銅，銅的最基本型態是紅銅，但紅銅氧化變黑速度快（比銀還快），需要常常擦拭清潔，所以易流汗體質也因此比較不適合紅銅。而青銅則是紅銅加入錫、鉛或鋁的銅合金，古時青銅器埋在土裡後顏色因氧化而青灰，故命名為青銅，但是因為青銅含鉛對人體有害而不適合做為飾品。然而，銅飾品最常見的黃銅是由銅、鉛、鋅或鎳所組成的銅合金，黃銅價格便宜所以很多人用黃銅做黃銅首飾，而它也因顏色燦黃很像黃金而受歡迎。然而黃銅性質不穩定，如果長時間佩戴的話，與汗液、空氣接觸時間較長，也會形成黑色的氧化層；黃銅另一大劣勢在於，黃銅如果貼身佩戴的話，有可能會造成一定程度的過敏，因為黃銅裡面的鉛、鎳等元素在汗液的腐蝕下會刺激到毛囊，進而形成紅疹等過敏現象，這就是為什麼很多人只能配戴純銀或K金飾品而不能配戴其他材質飾品的原因。

 

合金價廉陷阱多，丟棄也有害環境

最後是合金，「合金」顧名思義是由兩種或兩種以上的金屬所合成的物質。合金首飾就是用價格較為低廉的金屬（銅、錫、鉛、鋁、鋅或鎳）通過一定的配方、比例合成外觀和貴重金屬相似的顏色的金屬；比如鎳、銅、鋅合成的首飾外觀很像銀等外觀白色的金屬、黃銅合成的首飾外觀很像黃金、K金等等。然而，因為合金飾品通常不會使用太昂貴的金屬，裡面有些重金屬元素其實是有毒的，選購時建議多詢問銷售人員合金飾品內含的金屬成分，畢竟飾品是和皮膚長時間接觸，一不小心就會紅腫、過敏。如果銷售人員也不清楚飾品內含金屬成分時，建議您儘量避免選購合金商品，儘可能挑選純銀、K金或黃金等無電鍍商品以避免過敏。

這裡多加解釋一下前面常常出現的鎳又是甚麼呢？鎳是一種堅硬的銀白色金屬。鎳可以和其他的金屬，如：鐵、銅、鉻和鋅形成合金，這些合金被用來製成錢幣、首飾。但是鎳對人體最常見的有害健康影響是過敏反應（大約有20%的人對鎳過敏）。當含有鎳的首飾或其他物品長時間地與皮膚直接接觸就可能使人過敏。最常見的反應是在接觸的部位產生疹子、或引發哮喘發作。盡量避免購買含有鎳的首飾，就可以消除因為配戴飾品暴露於鎳金屬的風險，進而造成過敏現象。許多平價快時尚飾品就是使用鎳合金作為底材，上面再電鍍漂亮的金屬色就很容易地被消費者接受並購買配戴，但是因為鎳比起金銀相對便宜很多（價錢跟錫差不多），加上飾品體積小，沒有回收價值，通常淘汰後就直接被焚化掩埋。然而，鎳及其化合物在焚燒過程中會生成易揮發的、劇毒的致癌物羰基鎳(Ni(CO)4)；所以鎳對於人體跟環境都是不友善的。

 

加工越多，問題也越多，您的錢想投票在哪裡？

說到這裡，您應該不難發現一個很矛盾的現象，就是能達到又便宜、又像貴金屬的飾品最能讓商家說服消費者買單了，若是能夠最後再電鍍（小編會另闢文章詳述）一層似金非金的電鍍層上去就更加高級感了。但是想便宜又想高貴的背後，往往需要繁瑣的加工程序才能達成，最後錢都用在各個工序的加工費上了。那藏在美麗外衣底下的內含物，往往都只能使用工業等級的材料了，使用了連商家也說不清楚的金屬材料，也使用了必定傷害環境的電鍍加工。另外，這些廉價飾品由於平價取得，被遺棄的時候當然也不覺得可惜。但是，也因為它們加工程序過多的原因，而且體積又小，因此不具回收的經濟價值，最終只能面臨直接丟棄或焚燒的命運，也因此造成再次的環境汙染。便宜的背後，常常是我們無法承擔的代價，有些事情的代價比你意識到的還要高；而我們每一次的消費，就像是一張選票，決定著地球未來的樣貌；購買之前請多深思熟慮後再做出消費決策，買更少但更好的東西，微小的進步也會帶來巨大的改善喔。

 

 

 

 

How to choose jewelry materials correctly is the key

by mittag jewelry

 

Everyone likes to adorn themselves with beautiful accessories that convey their unique personality and style. But when buying accessories, are you also overwhelmed with the variety of materials... I understand, because I was so confused before entering this industry, and sometimes I bought accessories that accidently made me allergic, or bought accessories that surface finish was one thing, but its substrate was another metal which I had no idea at all. Therefore, this article is based on my sad experiences (and lots of money spent). After reading it, it is recommended that you review your jewelry box and inspect them again.

Generally speaking, the metal materials of jewelry are about the following: gold, silver, copper, alloys (commonly seen lead-copper alloys, nickel-brass alloys, lead-tin alloys, zinc alloys, etc.), and then followings are according to these metals to explain.

 

 

Pure gold is soft and yellow, and K gold can better meet market demand

 

Gold is the most precious metal because its economic value has kept it high and enduring. The properties of gold are stable, not easy to be corroded, not easy to oxidize, so it is not easy to turn black (but on the other hand, because gold is too stable and not easy to combine with other elements, wearing gold is not more beneficial to the human body than wearing silver jewelry, because silver ions have a strong bactericidal effect, and also absorb the lead attached to the surface of the human body, so it is understandable that silver jewelry is popular). The disadvantage of gold is that it is too soft and easy to deform, and it is too yellow, feeling too wealthy and difficult to match with skin color and clothing, so K gold is derived, and its appearance improves the hardness and color at the same time. K gold is commonly found in 18K, 14K and 10K (24K is the highest content, 18K means 18/24 is gold). The lower the number of K gold, the lower the gold content, so the color will be less yellow and the hardness will be harder. For more in-depth understanding, you can read "Gold, K gold? Platinum, white gold? After reading it, I finally got it!"

 

 

Silver maintains its value, often wearing and cleaning are the keys

 

Next is silver, which is the most widely used in jewelry because it is the cheapest of the precious metals with value preservation (gold, platinum, palladium, rhodium...). Silver is not easy to be corroded, and the color matches well, but silver is not as stable as gold and platinum, so the disadvantage is that silver products will oxidize and turn black, so we need to know the correct cleaning and storage methods (but in fact, there are many customers who like silver in black). Silver is as soft as gold, and because of this, 925 silver (content of 92.5% silver and  7.5% of alloy) is almost always used in silver jewelry, which increases the hardness of silver and is suitable for jewelry. Worldwide defines 925 silver as sterling silver. But here I like to remind everyone that some people would buy very cheap silver in the jade market or when they travel abroad, which is called "Tibetan silver"; here we must remind everyone that Tibetan silver does not actually contain silver, they made of white copper and is a copper-nickel-zinc alloy with nickel as the main element. The color is silver-white. Although it has a silver appearance, it does not contain silver elements. Don't be misled next time~

 

 

Red copper is difficult to maintain, brass is like gold but easy to be allergic

 

Then there is copper. The most basic form of copper is red copper, but red copper oxidizes and turns black easily (faster than silver), and needs to be wiped and cleaned frequently, so easy sweating people are not suitable for wearing red copper. Bronze is a copper alloy in which tin, lead or aluminum is added to red copper. In ancient times, the color of bronze wares buried in the soil turned green gray due to oxidation, so it was named bronze. However, the most commonly used for copper jewelry is brass, it’s a copper alloy composed of copper, lead, zinc or nickel. Brass is cheap, so many people use brass for jewelry, and it is also popular because of its bright yellow color, which is very similar to gold. However, brass is unstable; it will form a black oxide layer if it is in contact with sweat and air for a long time. Another major disadvantage of brass is that if brass is worn close to the body, it may cause certain degree of allergy, because the elements such as lead and nickel in brass will stimulate the hair follicles then occur allergic phenomena such as rashes under the corrosion of sweat, which is why many people can only wear sterling silver or K gold jewelry to avoid allergy.

 

 

Alloys are cheap and harmful to the environment when discarding them

 

Finally, there is the alloy. As the name suggests, an "alloy" is a substance composed of two or more metals. Alloy jewelry is the use of relatively cheap metals (copper, tin, lead, aluminum, zinc or nickel) to synthesize metals with a similar appearance and color to precious metals through a certain formula and ratio. However, because alloy jewelry usually does not use too expensive metals, some heavy metal elements are actually poisonous. When purchasing, it is recommended to ask the salesperson more about the metal components contained in alloy jewelry. After all, jewelry is in contact with the skin for a long time, it may cause redness and allergies. If the salesperson is not clear about the metal components in the jewelry, it is recommended that you try to avoid buying alloy products, and try to choose sterling silver, K gold or gold and other no plating products to avoid allergies.

Let me explain more about the nickel that often appears in this article. What is it? Nickel is a hard silver-white metal. Nickel can be alloyed with other metals such as iron, copper, chromium and zinc, and these alloys are used to make coins and accessories. But the most common effect of nickel on humans is allergic reactions (about 20% of people are allergic to nickel). When jewelry or other items containing nickel are in direct contact with the skin for a period of time, people may be allergic. The most common reactions are a rash on the site of contact, or an asthma attack. Try to avoid buying jewelry that contains nickel, then you can eliminate the risk of exposure to nickel metal. Many cheap fast fashion accessories use nickel alloy as the base material, and plating a beautiful metal color then easily accepted by consumers. However, because nickel is relatively cheaper than gold and silver (the price is similar to tin), and the jewelry is small in size so has no recycling value. Usually, it is directly incinerated and buried after being eliminated. However, nickel and its compounds will generate volatile and highly toxic carcinogen nickel carbonyl (Ni(CO)4) during the incineration process; therefore, nickel is not friendly to the human body nor to the environment.

 

 

The more processing, the more problems, where does your money vote?

 

Now, it should not be difficult for you to find a very contradictory phenomenon, that is, jewelry that can be cheap and look like precious metals can best convince consumers to pay for it. A gold color electroplating layer is even more looking closer to luxury jewelry. However, behind the desire to be cheap and noble, it often requires cumbersome processing procedures to achieve, and finally the money is spent on each process. The contents hidden under the beautiful coat are often only made of industrial-grade materials, metal materials that even the merchants can't tell, and electroplating, which is sure to harm the environment. In addition, because these cheap accessories are obtained at a low price, it is certainly not a pity when they are abandoned. However, because they have too many processing procedures and are small in size, they do not have economic value for recycling, and ultimately they can only face the fate of direct disposal or incineration, which also causes environmental pollution again. Behind the cheapness, there is often a price that we cannot afford. Some things cost more than you realize, and every time we consume, it is like a vote that determines the future appearance of the earth; Think carefully before making consumption decisions, buy less but better things, small changes can lead to huge improvements.