Why does my ring tarnish?
Gold jewelry that is stamped 10kt., 14kt. or 18kt. has alloys added. Only 24kt. fine gold is guaranteed not to tarnish. Fine gold is too soft to make jewelry, so this is why alloys are added. Why does white gold sometimes have a yellowing effect after wearing it for a while? The answer is very simple, it is the presence of 24 kt. yellow gold. White gold alloys are added to the 24kt. gold for coloring and karat, just like mixing colors for paint. The only problem is that the yellow portion cannot be changed, making it impossible to achieve a true white color. This is why all white gold jewelry is plated with a bright white rhodium finish which must be replated from time to time. Why does some white gold jewerly give problems and others do not? Some reasons are wear, chemicals, body acids, different alloys and the thickness of the rhodium plate. Is a thicker rhodium plate better? A thicker plate will hold up longer and a lot of the foreign manufactures are practicing this. This is not the answer and is only creating another problem. The gold karat changes as more rhodium is added. In other words , your 14kt. ring may no longer be 14kt. gold. If you prefer white gold, it's really no trouble to get a new rhodium finish from time to time. You also get a free jewelry cleaning , prongs checked and your jewelry looks brand new again. If you're looking for the white color and don't mind spending the extra money, then platinum may be the answer for you. Platinum is a pure metal with no alloys added. "For More About Jewelry And Diamonds" Visit Our Web Site At www.southern jewelry.com

What Is A Rhodium Finish?
Rhodium is a very bright white hard metal. When jewelers use the term rhodium finish, we are talking about electro-plating. The first thing we do is clean and polish the item to a very high shine. Next step is to clean the item by a method called electro cleaning. The plating process is a chemical electrolysis process. The item is connected to a negative charge and a stainless anode is connected to the positive. The item is submerged in a solution of suspended rhodium metal and the electrical charge attracts the metal from the solution to the item.

Chemicals And My Jewelry?
Yes, chemicals are everywhere. Cosmetics, lawn fertilize, ammonia, acids, bleach , chlorine, etc. Chlorine & bleach are the two largest problems. Chlorine is in every swimming pool. Avoid swimming and especially avoid wearing your jewelry when shocking your pool or handling chlorine tablets. Since your jewelry is made from alloys mixed with 24kt. gold, chemicals such as the ones we described can literally destroy your jewelry. Acids can actually dissolve the alloy portion of your jewelry and make it brittle.

Choosing The Right Metal
White Gold: White gold is the choice of most people because of cost. It is also an easy metal to work with and many more jewelry styles are available in white gold than platinum. Periodic cleaning and rhodium plating is needed to maintain a bright white finish.
Yellow Gold: Yellow gold is made by mixing yellow alloys with 24kt. gold. Any karat of yellow will maintain its color and can be easily refinished by a jeweler.Platinum:  If you want a ring which will not yellow and you're looking for the white color and don't mind spending the extra money. Platinum may be a good choice. Platinum is a pure metal which means, no alloys have been added. Platinum will never tarnish. Platinum has a high melting point but flows and bonds together well.
24kt. Fine Gold: This is a pure metal which will never tarnish but not suitable for jewlery because it is too soft.
Silver: Silver is very susceptible to tarnish. Always comes with a rhodium finish.
Titanium: Not recommended by Southern Jewelry. This is a metal is a jewelry fad, made poplar from the aircraft industry and jet fighters. This metal is hard, tarnish resistant and has a high melting point. Not suitable for jewelry. A jeweler cannot repair, size or polish this metal.
Palladium: Not recomended by Southern Jewelry. This metal is hard, tarnish resistant and has a high melting point. It is difficult for a jeweler to work with.

What Is 10kt-14kt 18kt etc?
It all begins with 24kt. Fine gold. Fine gold has a purity of .999. To start with you must understand that all gold karats except 24 kt. are made from adding alloy. To lower the karat to make the metal suitable for jewelry, alloys are added by weight proportions and the metals are melted together to produce the karat wanted. If you wanted to create 12 kt. Gold you would simply add 50% alloy and 50% gold.     To make 10 kt. Gold: Approximately 58% alloy and 42% fine gold.    To make 14kt. Gold: Approximately 42% alloy and 58% fine gold.    To make 18kt. Gold: Approximately 25% alloy and 75% fine gold.  Sterling Silver has approximately 7.5% alloy added to create .925 , which is sterling silver.

Buying Jewelry as an Investment
Many times people come to us to sell used jewelry and are disappointed because they are under the impression that it is an investment. If the item is gold and contains good quality diamonds, it will always have a value but not what you paid for it. If the diamonds are low quality such as chain store jewelry and TV jewelry, the diamonds may not have any value at all.
Unless you are buying investment, high quality never before worn diamonds or 24 kt. gold, you're buying a jewelry gift, not a money investment. Buying jewelry is a gift item just like anything else we buy because we want it. You must understand that jewelry has to be manufactured and consumes labor and raw materials just like any other product. This is sometimes most of the value placed on the retail price. When it comes down to selling it back to a jeweler, you're only going to get scrap metal and loose diamond value which is considerably less than a new item. It is very difficult to sell used jewelry and expect to retrieve your original purchase price. Would you want to buy a used wedding ring?

Buying Loose Colored Stone Deals
These are usually parcels from Brazil, we're talking about great deals on bags of loose uncut rubies, sapphires, amethyst etc. No deal here, usually low quality, not suitable for jewelry. These are usually scams.

Why Does My Ring Have Pits In It?
This is a casting problem known as porosity that is created when the molten gold was poured into the mold and could be associated with one of these reasons. This could be a casting problem. Unfortunately with all the foreign non regulated imports coming into our country , this has become a real problem in the last 10 years. The news reports that have surfaced lately about under karating gold being sold is absolutely true and has been an issue of concern among legitimate jewelry manufacturers for several years. If you were having a ring made from scrap gold , the jeweler has no way of knowing what alloys were used in the original product or how many times the metal has been melted. Each time you melt metal , you loose some of the metal weight by converting it to a gas. This will result in a poor cast. Another reason can be from using too high of melting temperature when melting the gold. Why Did My Ring Break? The most common break is where the ring was cut and sized . There is a right and wrong way to size a ring , but even when the job is done right , it still happens. A thin shank ring is much more likely to break than a thicker shank. This is nothing to worry about , just simply take it back to the jeweler and have it repaired.

Can A Diamond Break?
Even though a diamond is the hardest substance known , that does not mean it will not break. Breaking and hardness are not the same meaning. Diamonds have a grain that is visible under a microscope and are subject to break at this point. A poor quality stone with visible cracks is much more likely to break than a higher quality stone. This is something to consider when
purchasing a diamond.

My Jewelry Turns My Skin Green ?
This is a common problem. It is simply a chemical reaction between you and the metal and may happen periodically. The most likely metal to cause this would be the nickel in the alloy.

Why Does My Chain Keep Breaking?
Most chains are made of small loops that are joined together and twisted for strength just like a nylon or grass rope. However , the links in a gold chain move freely causing wear. When links begin breaking , it's time for a new chain or quit wearing it.

Did They Switch My Diamond?
When I have my diamond jewelry repaired , how do I know the jeweler did not switch my diamond.? This is not something that happens very often but unfortunately , it does happen. My suggestion is to deal with an independent reputable jeweler.
There is a way to prevent this , have your diamond photographed. This will prove the diamond belongs to you.

What Is A Clarity Enhanced Diamond?
To put it into easy to understand terms, a clarity enhanced diamond is a diamond which contains a visible inclusion.   The diamond is drilled down to the inclusion and the carbon is dissolved with acid leaving a cavity which is filled with a clear epoxy. The problem comes in when the jeweler works on your ring with fire. The epoxy is going to turn black and you will have to send it back to have it replaced.
Note: Southern Jewelry does not offer or sell clarity enhanced stones.

Are the 4 c's All I need To Know About Buying A Diamond?
Unfortunately not anymore. There are laser drilled diamonds to remove carbon, clarity enhanced diamonds, color treated to enhance color, broken diamonds, chipped diamond and external flaws.  Just a few more things you should know in purchasing a diamond. CLICK HERE  to see how we sell diamonds.

Casting Scrap Gold
We are professional gold casters and prefer using only virgin gold for our products. We do however, take your gold in as a credit toward your casting job. Using old gold for casting is not a good idea. All metals oxidize when melted except 24 kt gold. 10 or 14kt gold are a mixture of 24 kt gold and alloys such as zinc , copper & silver. Example - If you melt 1 gram of 24 kt. gold to melting point for a given length of time, it will still weigh the same. If you melt alloy or other metals to the same temperature, there will be a weight loss because it oxidizes. Old gold has already been melted at least once and the alloys have already began to oxidize, the more you melt the metal , the lesser quality metal you have. The result can be a product which may turn dark, pits and holes on the outer skin and even cracking. Do you want your diamond on a setting with prongs that are subject to cracking? Old gold such as products that have been sized, soldered and especially chains contain lead which is a definite no no in casting, lead causes serious cracking. Is it legal to cast old gold? Yes, it's legal to cast old gold. Stamping the karat is where there is a problem. How do you determine the exact karat of the gold? When you melt gold over & over and mix different products together, the gold karat changes. The federal law requires stamping to be accurate within ------ 1/1000 parts per 1000 which are very high standards.

Care and cleaning of your jewelry
In addition to maintaining your jewelry's natural shine, you can keep it looking nice by following these suggestions:

* Have a jeweler clean and inspect your jewelry at least annually, looking for loose settings, faulty links, worn prongs, etc. Ask your jeweler how to clean items properly at home.
* Clean your jewelry frequently to avoid the build up of dirt, which may hasten wear.
* A prong that is loose, worn or catches on fabric may cause the stone to fall out of the setting. Have the item checked by a jeweler immediately if you suspect a problem.
* When not wearing your jewelry, place each item in a separate soft compartment or container. If cluttered together, jewelry can become scratched--even diamonds.
* Avoid heavy blows to your diamond. Even though it's among the hardest of all materials, diamonds can chip if struck at the right angle.
* Insure your jewelry to assure that you can replace it if it is lost, stolen or damaged. Besides having your jewelry professionally cleaned by a jeweler, here are a few suggestions to care for your diamonds and other common gemstones at home.

What Do We Think About Buying Jewelry On TV? These comments are based on what we see.   We have seen plenty of products bought on TV because we repair them often and size the rings. As far as a good deal, I'll have to say, you get what you pay for and many times not even that. What we see is low quality stones, low pale colors, extremely thin made rings, broken stones, and scratched stones.

"Words Of Wisdom Before You Buy A Diamond"
Don't be fooled by bogus certificates mostly offered by TV, Internet and chain stores. Just because a diamond is certified and uses the same grading marks such as VS1 clarity, H-I color etc. does not mean it is graded by the same standards as a stone graded by a certified GIA diamond grader. Most chain stores have their own in-store self created certificates. In other words, even though both stones are graded the same, that does not mean you are comparing the same quality stones.

"Never Buy A Diamond Without Taking A Look With A Microscope"
If the store does not have a microscope, you're in the wrong place to buy a diamond. Buying something as small as a diamond without taking a look with a microscope is like buying a car from a mile away.

What To Look For And What Questions To Ask:
* Look for surface cracks. Move the diamond around to create a glare on each facet. Diamond with surface cracks have the potential to actually break when setting or when bumped.
* Has the diamond been color treated or is it natural?
* Is the diamond clarity enhanced or is it natural?   Never buy a clarity enhanced diamond, this is one that has been drilled to remove carbon and filled with a clear substance. Someday when you take your ring in for repair and the jeweler heats it with a torch, the glue will turn black and come out.
* Are the facets smooth or do they have sanding lines?

Buying A Diamond   By Amy Beets Peterson       Date Published Oct-1-2006

There is much more to buying a diamond than most people would imagine. A diamond's beauty, variety, and price are dependent on the combination of the 4 C's. Many people have heard of this, but have yet to truly grasp the meaning . The 4 C's are color, clarity, cut and carat weight. First, the color scale ranges for "D" to "Z". The higher the letter, the less color the stone contains. The less color the stone contains, the more rare it is. Second, clarity is extremely important. Diamond have internal features, called inclusions and small irregularities, called blemishes. Together, they are called clarity characteristics.
      Cut refers to the proportions, symmetry, and overall finish of a diamond. It also refers to the shape of a stone. Carat weight is the standard unit of weight used for gemstones. These 4"C's make up the individual characteristics of a diamond, meaning each stone is unique in its own way.

Why Does White Gold Get Dull & Yellow    By Ed Beets       Date Published Oct-10-2006
White gold is made by mixing 24kt. gold with white alloys to create different karats of white gold. Very similar to mixing colors to create a certain color. The big difference is 24kt. gold is a mandatory ingredient. In other words, there is no way to make it completely white. Yellowing and tarnish are two different things when it comes to white gold.  The higher the karat, the higher the 24kt yellow content, the more yellowing when the rhodium finish wears off. The lower the content of 24kt. such as 10kt, the more susceptible to chemicals attacking the alloy which can cause tarnish problems.  That's why, white gold is always plated with rhodium to achieve a bright white finish. The rhodium finish will eventually wear off and must be replaced periodically if you want your ring to look new all the time.

Independent Jeweler Vs. Chain Store Jewelry   By Ed Beets
    What is the difference? Here are some interesting points you should think about before buying jewelry. Every independent jeweler that I know has a microscope in the store. I have never seen a microscope in a chain store. When buying something as small as a diamond, don't you want to see what you're really buying. Buying a diamond from a store without a microscope is like buying a car for a mile away.
     What about Price? There is no magic in selling jewelry at low prices. There is also no such thing as discount quantity buying when it come to diamonds and gold. Low price usually means low quality, it's that simple. If we at Southern Jewelry wanted to sell a 1 carat tennis bracelet for $149, we could, it'a avaliable at the jewelry shows to buy. You will not find this kind of merchandise in our store because we choose not to sell this to our customers.
    Where is the jeweler in a chain store?  A chain store is not likely to have a jewelry repairman and good luck when your diamond falls out of the new ring you just bought. Almost all independant jewelry stores have a jewelry craftsman which takes care of the products they sell.
    What about the sales clerk? The sales clerk in a chain store is just a sales clerk. In an independant store , the sales clerk is usually the store owner, the merchandise buyer, the jewelry repairman, the jewelry designer, the diamond grader and the list goes on.   These are just a few of the reasons you should shop with an independent jewelers. We at Southern Jewelry would like to be your independent jewelery store.
Southern Jewelry On The 98 Bypass and our second store is coming soon to 424 Broad Street.