I do not normally work in Welsh Gold.

The reasons why are set out clearly in the David Morgan website www.davidmorgan.com. The piece written on Welsh gold is well worth reading.



Rhodium plating is widely used in jewellery manufacture to produce a uniform hard, white and bright finish which does not tarnish. It is used on platinum for brightness, white gold to produce an even colour (batches of white gold can often have different tones of white), and silver to cover fire stain (see above) and prevent tarnishing.

Rhodium is one of the platinum group of metals, very expensive and only suitable in jewellery for plating purposes.



There have been two recent developments in precious metals which are of interest to discerning customers. The first, is the availability of palladium. Palladium is a precious metal in the platinum group and looks like white gold, though it is not as expensive. One major drawback of palladium is that there is no hallmark to confirm its quality.

The second interesting development, is that of tarnish and fire-stain resistant silver. Silver has two irritating properties. The first is that of developing a thin copper rich surface when soldered - this has a grey appearance and must be removed or plated over and the second is that it tarnishes quickly. It is claimed that the new silver alloy reduces both.

The jury is still out on both metals and I will let you know my opinion in due course.

Gold is a very versatile metal. It is malleable and ductile. It’s a good conductor of heat and electricity, immune to tarnish, and resistant to acids - it is available in a range of carats.

When the term carat (as opposed to when it is used with precious stones) is used with gold it is a measurement of quality. 24 carat gold is pure gold and too soft to be used effectively.

Increasing proportions of other metals are added to pure gold to make it more appropriate for the intended application. 18ct gold is 18 parts pure gold and 6 parts other metals while 14ct gold has 10 parts of other metals and 9ct has 15 parts of other metals.

The colour of gold can also be changed according to what metals are added. For example, in the case of white gold, silver, palladium and nickel are added to make the white colour.