| 10 facts about affordable gold or rhodium | | | | properties of Rhodium make it suitable for |
| plaited jewellery that is suitable for both | | | | jewellery products. |
| casual wear and for special occasions, and | | | | |
| which does not have to be stored in a vault! | | | | * Rhodium flashing is known in the jewellery |
| | | | trade as the process of electroplating; |
| * A gemstone is a mineral that has been cut | | | | whereby a white gold metal is placed in a |
| or faceted then polished, examples of | | | | rhodium salt solution and when an electrical |
| gemstones are quartz, jasper, amethyst, Ruby | | | | current is passed through the metal the white |
| and Malachite. | | | | gold is coated with a thin layer of rhodium. |
| | | | This process gives the rhodium plaited metal |
| * Facets are flat faces on geometric shapes, | | | | a highly reflective white surface. |
| that either occur naturally in crystalline | | | | |
| structures or as in the case of gemstones are | | | | * Rhodium has a Moh's hardness of 6 compared |
| cut into them to improve their appearance. | | | | to Silver and Gold that both have a Moh's |
| Faceting is usually applied to transparent | | | | hardness of just 2.5. |
| gemstones. | | | | |
| | | | * Cutting is usually applied to opaque |
| * The Moh's scale of mineral hardness | | | | gemstones that are impenetrable to visible |
| characterises the scratch resistance of | | | | light while faceting is mainly carried out on |
| minerals through the ability of a harder | | | | transparent gems. As softer gemstones are |
| material to scratch a softer one. | | | | more readily scratched so they are shaped and |
| | | | polished in order to reduce any visible signs |
| * Softer gemstones with a Moh's hardness | | | | of scratching. |
| scale of less than 7 are easily scratched by | | | | |
| dust and grit. On the Moh scale a window pane | | | | * Rhodium belongs to the group of Platinum |
| has a Moh scale rating of 5.5, whilst Quartz | | | | metals and is considered to be an even more |
| is 7, Topaz is 8, and Diamond is 10. In fact | | | | precious metal than silver. |
| Diamond is fifteen times more harder than | | | | |
| quartz. | | | | * By definition, a Cabouchon is a gemstone |
| | | | that has been shaped and polished making |
| * Rhodium is a hard silvery white and durable | | | | attractive jewellery for all occasions. |
| metal with a high reflectance. The reflective | | | | |