Metals

Venerari's contemporary jewellery is made from platinum, gold, silver and steel - in black, white, yellow and red.

Platinum

Platinum is the purest, rarest, whitest precious metal. It is extremely resistant to corrosion and will not change colour with age. It is also a very heavy metal, almost twice the weight of lead and significantly heavier than gold. Platinum has a quality and chemical properties that make it a unique metal for special jewels, requiring specific manufacturing techniques for crafting into jewellery.

Gold

As pure (fine) gold, 24ct, is too soft for most uses, it is alloyed with other metals for hardness. Silver and copper are the most common additives. 18ct gold is 75% pure gold. 9ct is half that, meaning that half of the "gold" is actually base metal. We use only 18ct gold in our jewellery in white, black, yellow and red.

Silver

Pure silver, like gold, is too soft for most uses and is therefore alloyed to other metals to make it more durable. The sterling silver used in Venerari's contemporary jewellery is an alloy of 92.5% pure silver and usually copper. When newly mined or polished it has a characteristic bright, silver-white colour and metallic lustre. However by exposure to oxygen, a black layer of silver oxide appears to tarnish the surface. For this reason, silver needs to be regularly cleaned with a silver polishing cloth in order to retain its brightness and clean white colour. We only use the latest sterling silver alloy designed to minimise tarnishing.

Steel

We use steel in conjunction with other metals in our jewellery, eg, black steel chains look great with black gold pendants. Steel is a tough alloy made principally of iron. Other metals are added to make up the alloy. We use only stainless steel which is resistant to rust.