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Mokume Gane and Damascus Stainless Steel wedding bands, engagement and commitment rings and sets, and men's rings by Andrew Nyce Designs are available in a variety of precious metal alloys. |
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Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are rare metallic elements. These precious metals are durable, extremely corrosion- and oxidation-resistant, and have high economic value.
- Silver (Ag) is a lustrous, malleable white metal.
- Gold (Au) is a soft metal with a characteristic yellowish color and sheen.
- Palladium (Pd) is a lustrous, silver-white metal.
- Platinum (Pt) is a silvery-white metal that is both malleable and ductile.
Although an investment in precious metal wedding, engagement and commitment rings may seem expensive, their value as a symbol of your love will endure for a lifetime.
Andrew Nyce Designs is proud to offer a wide selection of precious metal alloys for use in designing your unique Mokume Gane or Damascus Stainless Steel ring.
By selecting precious metal alloy channels, liners, edges, or gemstone settings in your ring design, you are able to frame the Mokume Gane or Damascus Stainless Steel bands to either subtle or striking effect.
In addition, our eight Mokume Gane color palettes incorporate carefully selected combinations of precious metal alloys that range from vibrant to subtle and elegant to modern.
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Gold is malleable, durable, hypoallergenic, and tarnish-resistant. 24 karat is the gold standard and represents gold in its purest form (99.9+% pure gold). Although pure gold possesses a highly desirable deep, full yellow color, it is too soft to effectively be used for making rings. Therefore, alloying pure gold with other metals improves its mechanical properties such as strength and durability.
Typically, 18K gold is composed of 75% pure gold and 25% other metals while 14K gold contains 58.33% pure gold and 41.67% other metals. Palladium, nickel, silver, and copper are alloyed with pure gold to create a variety of colored golds. For example, adding copper imparts a reddish, pink hue while adding silver results in a greener shade of yellow.
Alloying not only changes the properties and color of gold, but also the cost. Generally, using lower cost alloying metals results in lower pure gold content and, thus, lower overall cost.
Andrew Nyce Designs offers 14K and 18K yellow gold, 14K and 18K palladium white gold, as well as 14K white gold. |
Gold is traditional, popular, and warm. |
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Yellow Gold (RY-Gold)
18K gold is considered the industry standard for high-quality jewelry and is favored by European jewelers. Andrew Nyce Designs offers both 14K and 18K yellow gold. Our 18K gold, known as Royal Yellow, exhibits a rich yellow color with a slightly greener hue. The 14K yellow provides a warm yellow color with a slightly pinker hue.
Although 18K yellow gold is more valuable and tends to have a deeper color, 14K yellow gold tends to be stronger and more durable. On the down side, 14K gold is more likely to tarnish compared to 18K yellow gold. |
Yellow Gold is regal, rich, warm. |
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White Gold
White gold is an alloy made by adding at least one white metal such as nickel, palladium, or silver to pure gold. 18K white gold is mix of 75% pure gold and 25% white metal. Andrew Nyce Designs offers 14K and 18K palladium white gold as well as 14K nickel white gold.
Compared to yellow gold, white gold is stronger and more durable. It is also more scratch-resistant. Compared to platinum, white gold has several advantages including lower cost and lighter weight.
In general, palladium white gold has a warmer color than nickel white gold, but is more expensive.
For engagement rings, white gold complements the brilliance of diamonds. |
White Gold is versatile, classic and classy. What doesn't go with white? |
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Palladium White Gold (PW-Gold)
Andrew Nyce Designs offers both 14K and 18K white gold alloyed with palladium. The 14K palladium white gold provides a cool, gray tint, whereas 18K palladium white gold appears lighter, whiter. Palladium white gold alloys are soft and pliable.
Compared to nickel white gold, palladium white gold is hypoallergenic and holds its white color better. Palladium white gold is a good choice for white gold gemstone settings. |
Palladium White Gold is soft and soothing. |
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Nickel White Gold (W-Gold)
Andrew Nyce Designs offers 14K white gold alloyed with nickel. The nickel white gold tends to have a colder white color.
About one in eight people have allergies to the nickel used in white gold alloys. Reactions include itching and swelling where the metal comes in contact with the skin. Although white gold alloys containing palladium generally are not allergenic, they are slightly more expensive. |
White Gold is cool, calm and collected. |
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Red Gold (R-Gold)
Red gold is a gold and copper alloy with a distinctive reddish color. It is also known as pink or rose gold. Typically, 18K red gold is composed of 75% pure gold, 21% copper, and 4% pure silver while 14K red gold contains 58.33% pure gold and 41.67% copper.
Higher karat red gold alloys (18K or higher) are lighter in color than lower karat alloys (14K) because there is more pure gold (yellow) than copper (red). In other words, the higher the copper content, the deeper and richer the red hue. Andrew Nyce Designs offers both 14K and 18K red gold.
Red gold can be used to complement colored diamonds. From a price perspective, red gold is similar to the more traditional and common yellow gold. |
Red Gold is distinctive and stunning. Red is for Romance. |
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Platinum (Pt) possesses a brilliant white luster. Platinum will not tarnish and is extremely durable. Platinum is a neutral metal and is an alternative for who have skin sensitivities to other metals. Platinum purity is given relative to 1000 parts. Thus 950 platinum contains 950 parts platinum out of 1000; it is 95% pure platinum with either iridium or ruthenium added to impart hardness. Lower purity platinum alloys (90% and below) may change the color of the platinum or lower its durability. Andrew Nyce Designs is proud to offer 950 platinum as a ring option for channels, liners, edges, or gemstone settings.
Platinum and white gold are similar in color. However, platinum is more durable and lightweight than white gold and has a higher resistance to tarnish and scratches. Platinum will scratch, but no material is lost as is the case with gold. More importantly, over time, platinum will not wear away or wear down, as does gold.
For engagement rings, platinum’s luster is a perfect complement to the brilliance of a diamond. As a gemstone setting, platinum does not wear away and holds gemstones firmly and securely. |
Platinum is rare, elegant, pure, and lasting. A subtle beauty. |
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Palladium (Pd) is a member of the platinum group. Palladium is lightweight, durable, hypoallergenic, and resists tarnishing. Palladium is considered a white metal, although it appears light gray in color compared to platinum-enhanced sterling silver or 14K white gold. The 950 palladium alloy used by Andrew Nyce Designs is a mixture of pure palladium (95%) and another platinum group metal, ruthenium (5%).
Palladium can be used as a replacement for platinum or white gold. Compared to platinum, palladium is lighter in weight, harder, and much less expensive. Palladium, like platinum, is much more durable than white gold. |
Palladium is alluring and refined. |
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Because fine silver (99.9% pure) is so soft and malleable, it is rarely used for jewelry. By mixing silver with other metals, the resulting alloy is stronger while preserving both the ductility of the silver as well as the high precious metal content. Common sterling silver is made from a mixture of fine silver (92.5%) and copper (7.5%). Sterling silver tends to tarnish and discolor very easily.
Platinum-enhanced sterling silver (or platinum sterling) is a relatively new alloy comprised of fine silver (92.5%), platinum (4-6%), and a small amount of copper (less than 3%). The alloy was created by ABI Precious Metals in 2003. Andrew Nyce Designs is proud to offer this alloy.
Aesthetically, platinum-enhanced sterling silver has the bright white look of white gold, but at a fraction of the cost. Compared to white gold or platinum, platinum-enhanced sterling silver is a more affordable alternative for channels, liners or edges on rings by Andrew Nyce Designs.
Platinum-enhanced sterling silver has the added benefit of having greater tarnish resistance than traditional sterling silver. |
Platinum-enhanced Sterling Silver is bright white and affordable.
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Andrew Nyce Designs offers eight distinctive Mokume Gane color palettes that are made and patterned by Andrew in our studio. The two-, three- and four-tone color combinations represent a carefully selected variety of contrasting and subtle colors that are certain to meet both the personal style and taste of the most discerning wedding, engagement and commitment ring customers.
Dramatic contrasts can be seen in the Mokume Gane palettes that showcase yellow and red golds against more monochromatic colors:
- Santa Fe (3-tone red and palladium white gold with pt-sterling silver)
- Maui Sunset (4-tone royal yellow, palladium white, and red gold with pt-sterling silver)
Both soft and stunning monochromatic effects can be seen in the following Mokume Gane palettes:
- Glacial Mist (2-tone palladium white gold with pt-enhanced sterling silver)
- Ashes and Snow (3-tone platinum, palladium white gold with pt-enhanced sterling silver)
Color palettes comprised of yellow gold and white metals create a visually appealing, sometimes dramatic, effect:
- Desert Sunrise (2-tone royal yellow and palladium white gold)
- Maui Sunrise (2-tone royal yellow gold and platinum)
- Taos Sunset (3-tone royal yellow and palladium white gold with pt-sterling silver)
You also can expand your ring design creativity by pairing your Mokume Gane band with a precious metal channel, liner, edges or gemstone setting. The possibilities are endless. |
Mokume Gane is textured, flowing, zen. |
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Andrew Nyce Designs offers a spectrum of white metals in our Mokume Gane color palettes as well as for ring design options such as channels, liners, edges and gemstone settings.
The properties and qualities of these metal alloys have been provided in previous sections above. When designing your ring, it is helpful for you to visualize how the metals compare with each other within the white color range. A comparative color scale of the white metal alloys offered by Andrew Nyce Designs is provided below: |
White Metals include platinum, palladium, white gold and sterling silver. |
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- Platinum-enhanced Sterling Silver [lightest/whitest]
- 14K White Gold
- 950 Platinum
- 18K Palladium White Gold
- 14K Palladium White Gold
- 950 Palladium [rich/cool gray]
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