a guide to our

Materials

Saffron Noire invests in materials to create jewellery that will be treasured everyday and passed on as cherished heirlooms. All Saffron Noire pieces are crafted in 14K gold-filled jeweller's brass or 14K solid gold, providing high quality jewellery at approachable price points. 

The picture below demonstrates the fundamental differences in longevity between different types of gold jewellery including materials Saffron Noire chooses not to utilize.

a semi-fine selection

Gold-Filled

Saffron Noire gold-filled jewellery is created by bonding a very thick layer of gold to high quality jeweller's brass through heat and pressure. For jewellery to qualify as gold-filled legally, the gold content needs to be 5% of the total weight.

While gold-filled jewellery will eventually tarnish after several years, the very thick layer of gold makes it an affordable and suitable substitute for solid gold.

the finest luxury

Solid Gold

Solid gold is the most prized jewellery quality in the world. It is the only kind of jewellery that will not tarnish with repeated wear, and it will survive for many years through conditions such as contact with perfume or cosmetics.

Despite its purity, 24K gold is too soft to be made into durable jewellery, which is why 14K solid gold (gold mixed with alloys) is the most often used material at this standard. It is pure romantic luxury that will endure many of your most memorable moments. 

All Saffron Noire jewellery can be crafted in solid yellow gold.

excluded gold materials

Plated and Vermeil

Saffron Noire chooses not to use gold plated or gold vermeil materials since both finishes are prone to tarnishing. Gold plated jewellery is created by plating a very thin layer of gold over an unknown material, very often copper or nickel. Due to this construction, the thin gold plating will wear off quickly. Similarly, gold vermeil jewellery is created when a layer of gold is dipped or painted onto a sterling silver base.

While the gold's thickness can vary in gold vermeil, gold-filled jewellery contains at least one hundred times more gold and is therefore more durable. Due to its intensive manufacturing process of using heat and pressure to bond a very thick layer of gold to jeweller's brass, gold-filled jewellery has significantly more longeivity and is therefore more expensive than gold-vermeil and gold plated items.

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