In the modern world, there are ways to imitate gold. The price of such products is low, and their appearance is beautiful and solid. They can be distinguished from real jewelry by markings, which all items sold in jewelry stores must have. Jewelry sellers use the term “medical gold.” Its synonyms are surgical or jewelry alloy. This is a special type of steel that does not harm human health. There is no noble metal in medical gold, and its price will be low. Such products bear a special type of marking, adopted to indicate surgical steel. In foreign countries, such products are marked 316L, and in Russia 03Х17Н14М3. The price of jewelry made from a medical alloy, which sellers began to call jewelry, is ten times less than jewelry containing gold. If a buyer purchases a product from dubious places, he cannot be sure of its quality and may overpay for the purchase.
By using the stable combination of words “medical gold”, sellers mislead buyers by offering them jewelry made from an alloy that is safe for the body. It is in demand in society and is used to make surgical instruments, and in the last two decades it has been used in jewelry. It is used to make earrings used for ear piercing. Piercing enthusiasts are happy to buy various alloy steel products, which are inserted into piercings and worn on all parts of the body. Everyone who wears such jewelry likes that it does not turn black, does not leave marks on the body, and retains its presentation for a long time. Whether to buy such jewelry or not depends only on the desire of the person himself.
What does this alloy consist of?
It is a mistake to believe that medical gold is a 999 fine metal. In practice, only bars are made from pure gold and sold in banks. They are bought by those who want to invest their money in a profitable business. The rest buy jewelry items, beautiful and original, to decorate their body and attract everyone's attention. The physical properties of the precious metal do not allow it to be used in its pure form.
Gold is soft, easily changes its shape, and its surface is deformed. Scratches appear on the products, and the weight of the items gradually decreases. Sometimes you can find jewelry made of pure gold, but it will be made in an artisanal way. The buyer will only have to take his word for it, because such jewelry does not have a mark.
Medical alloy jewelry is very popular due to its affordable price
Costume jewelry sold under the term “medical gold” can be made from a variety of metals and coatings. This marketing term does not have a precise definition. Sellers use it for their own purposes, and it is also called medical steel.
Jewelry, surgical or medical steel is made from an alloy of iron with carbon and the addition of a ligature. Thanks to additives, steel acquires high anti-corrosion properties. The specially created alloy behaves neutrally towards humans. It does not cause allergies, does not react with human sweat, and does not change properties under the influence of salt water and the sun. Such an alloy contains alloying elements in addition to iron. Most of all the ligature contains chromium. Its oxide gives steel special stability and strength. It may be 16-18%. There is a lot of nickel in the alloy, about 13-15%. There is molybdenum - 2.5-3.1% and manganese - 1-2%. Silicon is used as additives - up to 0.4%, sulfur - up to 0.02% and phosphorus - up to 0.035%.
In medicine, such alloys are called surgical steel. It was invented to be actively used for the manufacture of surgical instruments.
Such surgical instruments retain their appearance and are safe for the sick person. A strong oxide film of chromium is formed on the surface of the steel, preventing oxidation of the metal product. Therefore, no traces of metal corrosion from contact with water appear on instruments and jewelry.
Buy earrings medical gold: pearl
Perli is a charcoal stone. This noble, ugly sparkle looks beautiful with the gilded embellishments of any kind. Odd drop earrings or miniature “studs”, decorated with pearls, look pretty and embellished. The peculiarity of such embellishments is that they are considered fashionable and do not lose relevance regardless of trends. The most fashionable options are pearls in rye or black colors, as well as irregular shapes. The rest miraculously harmonizes with the massive dark gilded flowers.
Jewelry items made of medical steel
Surgical steel jewelry often looks like gold because it has a special coating made in a different way. The most common methods of gilding are Gold Filled and Gold Plated. The latter name indicates that gold plating is an electroplated coating, and the first letters goldfield GF indicate that the plating was applied by rolling. It is especially durable. On objects with such gold plating, it is indicated how many carats the plate that was used for gilding had.
PVD coating is often used in the production of costume jewelry. This is a vacuum deposition of vapors of precious metals, the use of which leads to the fact that the products take on the appearance of expensive jewelry. After processing, the appearance of the products becomes similar to jewelry made of white noble metal. It was this noble appearance that gave rise to calling medical steel gold.
There will be a certain mark on the product informing the buyer about the use of any method of applying gilding. If there are no marks, then titanium nitride was used to coat the jewelry. It has increased durability and is similar in appearance to noble metal. The prices for such products are a thousand times cheaper compared to the cost of noble material.
Gold-plated jewelry made from a medical alloy looks just as impressive on the human body as expensive items made from precious metals. The sellers have an assortment of earrings, rings and pendants decorated with precious stones. The most common use is zircon, a stone similar in appearance to a diamond. Often steel rings are coated with colored enamel, and they look very original.
Steel is a refractory material. The design of rings, pendants, earrings and bracelets is modest, and medical steel is easily visible behind such a modest design. The high quality of polishing to which each piece of jewelry is subjected gives them a lasting mirror shine.
When making jewelry from steel, matte surface coatings can be used.
Features of care
Jewelry made from medical gold is best stored in a separate container. For example, a large box in which things will not constantly touch each other is suitable for such purposes. This will save them from unsightly scratches and other damage that seriously spoil their appearance.
It is prohibited to store products in plastic boxes or cellophane, because this is a rather harmful environment for them. Because of this, they may darken. Before long workouts or regular jogging, you should remove all alloy jewelry. And you also don’t need to sleep with it: this can lead to unexpected breakage of the jewelry.
It is necessary to use various products such as perfume before putting on the product. It's better to do this at the very last moment. Avoid exposure to high temperatures or sunlight. Therefore, a person needs to remove all unnecessary items if he is going to the beach, bathhouse or solarium. When working with this alloy, it is prohibited to use products containing hard abrasives. They can cause serious damage and remove the characteristic shine. It is better to take a soft, finely dispersed composition used for cleaning metal. It contains wax, organic solvents and other substances.
One of the most gentle ways to clean such products is using ultrasound using a special device. The device can clean various expensive metals such as gold, silver or platinum. This method is used to restore the original appearance of jewelry with precious stones.
To clean, place the item in the device for a few minutes. After this procedure, the jewelry will look like new and will last for many years.
If your favorite earrings or chains made of medical gold have lost their shine, you can wash them in not very warm water with a washing liquid that should not contain any aggressive substances. Medical alloy sometimes requires cleaning to prevent it from turning black. There are ways for this that an ordinary person can use, and there are also various professional methods. If you take precautions and take care of your jewelry, it will last a long time and retain its beautiful appearance.
What is the advantage of jewelry steel
The use of medical steel for the manufacture of jewelry is explained by the fact that when wearing it, no chemical reactions occur from contact of the metal with the skin. The complete absence of visual defects on the surface of the alloy attracts buyers who want to buy costume jewelry. Guaranteed safety when wearing inexpensive but impressive-looking jewelry made from this material allows them to be sold in large quantities.
Such jewelry, when worn constantly, retains its original appearance for a long time, no worse than precious metal. The jewelry alloy does not lose its attractiveness and does not oxidize when exposed to salty sea water, which happens with products made from other alloys. This jewelry does not turn black when exposed to active sunlight. Tap water cannot harm her. This type of jewelry is the best choice for wearing at a resort located on the sea coast, while taking therapeutic baths, or on a cruise.
There is no need to think that jewelry made from medical steel will be a full-fledged analogue of elite jewelry made from precious metals.
Over time, jewelry items made of steel begin to fade and lose their presentation, and the steel appears through the gilding. This does not happen so quickly, but it leads to the need to purchase new gold-plated items.
Vintage
Vintage decorations are one of the most important trends of 2021. Speeches with history have long aroused the interest of fashionistas. The trend of presentness is a demonstration of the wisdom of the practice of coexistence. Retro trends have also emerged in products made from copper alloy. The collections of well-known brands have massive chimeric shapes, “leaves”, antique models, decorated with one or more types of stones.
Surgical steel and other alloys for jewelry
The seller does not always offer to buy surgical gold-plated steel under the name “medical gold”. These may be other alloys.
Zinc alloy jewelry comes from the Czech Republic. If there is no intolerance to copper ions, then an alloy containing 10% zinc and 90% copper is safe for the body, provided that nickel is not present in it.
Copper polished to a golden shine can also be offered as decoration. Sometimes they offer products made of brass, rondole, bronze, copper and even iron and aluminum. For imitation, alloys that can be distinguished from the noble metal during examination can be used.
Medical gold can be exchanged for aufir, aural, or aufir. It is a golden yellow metal made from 90 parts copper and 10 parts aluminum.
In Germany, goldine is used. It is an alloy of copper and aluminum used to make cheap jewelry.
Musiv gold can be purchased. It is an alloy of tin sulfide with a noble luster. It is used for gilding because it is not corroded by sulfur and hydrogen sulfide and does not turn black.
There is Mannheim gold, which is a compound of 83.6 parts copper, 9.4 parts zinc and 7 parts tin. A seller may offer mosaic gold under the guise of a medical alloy or precious item. This is an alloy of 66 copper and 34 zinc, having the appearance of native gold.
French gold, used to make inexpensive jewelry, is light yellow in color. It consists of 80 parts copper, 15 parts zinc.
An alloy that supposedly combines gold with titanium is common. In fact, such a metal object does not contain noble, expensive metal, but is very similar in color to 585 gold. Manufacturers love to make massive chains and other large jewelry from it.
Methods of gilding products for precious metal
Gilding of jewelry steel to imitate precious metal is the main process of jewelry production. The jewelry itself is made from different alloys: bronze, brass, nickel silver, zirconium or cupronickel. Gilding helps to make the product look like gold.
There are two main methods:
- Gold Filled – by rolling method. In America this method is called Goldfield. In Europe and Russia - rolling. The metal obtained by this method is called rolled or fused gold. The product is placed in an airless environment, heated to 900 degrees and then compressed under hydraulic pressure. The result is a high-quality alloy with a guarantee of up to 5-10 years. Moreover, products gilded by rolling are hallmarked. In Europe and America, the GF mark is placed next to the number of carats. For example: GF14k. The carat system has standards of 9, 10, 14 and 18. In the CIS countries, the amount of gold (grams) contained in the copper alloy is noted. Among gold-plated products, 375, 583, and 750 samples are common.
- Gold Plated – galvanization. Electroplated gold is a gold-plated alloy. The process itself can take place mechanically or electrochemically. The mechanical method involves gilding with gold leaf. The thinnest gold sheets are glued to the surface of the product. To obtain a matte finish, the sheet is applied to an oil base. The polished surface of the product is obtained when gluing occurs on polyment. The electrochemical method is the application of gold plating using electric current, as if the gold is sprayed. The main thing when gilding this type is to properly prepare the surface of the product. It must be well polished and cleaned.
As can be seen from the characteristics, rolled gold has the best quality. But any of these methods helps to obtain high-quality medical alloys for gold.
Cost of medical gold products
Selling and buying inexpensive surgical steel jewelry brings benefits to sellers and satisfaction to buyers. Their low cost allows you to buy as many products as you want without causing significant damage to the family budget.
The price of genuine gold jewelry includes not only the market value of the precious metal, but also the labor of the jewelry craftsman who created the jewelry, and the markup that the seller made to make his profit. Not every woman can afford to buy a large amount of gold jewelry for everyday wear.
Medical gold is a cliche used to lure customers who want to buy inexpensive jewelry and do not want to have health problems while wearing it. Manufacturers of such jewelry can use various alloys.
The price for all jewelry that looks like gold should be low, provided that the seller is not a fraud. If there is no hallmark on the product, then this is costume jewelry. If the item you are buying does not have any markings or numbers, and the seller insists on a fairly high price, claiming that it is medical gold, he is being disingenuous. It is easy to distinguish surgical steel from other alloys. It does not have sufficient plasticity, and all objects made from it look strictly, there are no curls or complex weaves on them.
Massive earrings made of medicinal gold and congo earrings
Miraculous ring-shaped earrings made of medicinal gold of different sizes are one of the fashion trends of 2021. Particularly relevant are the large numbers of African women (the name “Congo”). The rings can be absolutely smooth or with decoration (stones, stones). Fashion has combined clothes, decorated with pendants and bags. The decor can be displayed under the ring or in the middle of it.
