Which Gold Alloy Has the Best Tarnish Resistance Properties?
As a general rule, the higher the karat, the more gold present therefore the greater the resistance to tarnishing. 18 karat gold will have superior resistance to 14 karat gold, which in turn will have superior resistance to 10 karat gold. So what tarnishes in jewelry? Base metals tarnish because they are chemically attacked from the atmosphere and any liquid that may come into contact with your jewelry. The main culprit here is copper. This reacts readily with sulfur from the atmosphere to form sulfides. These are dark in color and your jewelry starts to look dull with time. Solders contain other base metals that are chemically attacked, which is why solder joints can quickly tarnish and become visible after a period of wear. What About Silver? Unfortunately, although it is classed as a precious metal, silver suffers from significant tarnish problems. The main culprit again is sulfur, which will form purple, brown and black sulfides on your sterling silver jewelry. And this isn’t confi
