About Our Metals And Care Instructions

Understanding the various jewelry metal options for your fine jewelry will help you build a jewelry wardrobe that fits your life and style.

Fine jewelry metals have captured imaginations for centuries. You may prefer one kind of metal, or you may be surprised to discover a new favorite among the wide range of metals used in jewelry today. Each has its distinct advantages and some have unique looks and applications for jewelry. Understanding the qualities of each type of jewelry metal can help ensure that the piece you select today will offer a lifetime of joy and satisfaction.

 

Here are some general care tips for metal jewelry to keep your jewelry timeless:

  • Store jewelry in separate pouches or compartments to avoid scratching.
  • Clean jewelry in a solution of mild dish detergent and warm water, rinse thoroughly and dry with a soft cloth. You can also use a soft toothbrush.
  • Do not wear metal jewelry when working with chemicals or swimming in chlorinated water.

Sterling Silver

Durability
Silver is a naturally soft metal and is alloyed with other metals, most commonly copper, to increase its strength and durability. While sterling jewelry can tarnish or darken in color, it will never rust. And the bright reflective luster of sterling is restored with regular polishing and cleaning.

Quality Marks & Purity
In the United States, only jewelry that is at least 92.5% pure silver can be called or labeled “silver,” “sterling silver” or “sterling.” Sterling silver jewelry may also be marked with a 925, .925, 92.5 or “Ster” on the inside of the jewelry piece.

What is Vermeil?
Sterling silver jewelry is often electroplated with karat gold. When the thickness of the karat gold plating is at least 100 millionths of an inch thick, it is referred to as “vermeil,” pronounced “vermay.” Vermeil jewelry is an affordable alternative to jewelry made completely with karat gold. Items meeting this definition may be stamped with standard sterling markings or with the word “vermeil.”

Sterling Silver Care & Cleaning
How do I stop my silver from tarnishing?
Unfortunately silver does tarnish when exposed to oxygen, which leaves a dark, black buildup. To combat this, you can store silver jewelry in an airtight ziplock bag. To slow the process down, there are tarnish prevention strips you can purchase and store with your silver jewelry.

Regular polishing will easily remove the tarnish. Silver jewelry should be taken to your local jeweler annually for cleaning and to remove tarnish.

 

Gold-Plated, Gold-Filled and Vermeil
Gold-plated, gold-filled and vermeil jewelry are affordable alternatives to jewelry made completely with karat gold. These pieces have the look of solid gold, but their durability and value are significantly less. These are great options for those wanting to save money or trendy pieces. These gold alternatives are distinguished by minor differences.

Gold-plated is the cheapest alternative, in which a thin layer of gold covers a low-quality base metal, normally copper, brass, through an electroplating process. These pieces will be the quickest to tarnish but vary in price depending on the karatage used.

Vermeil (pronounced “vermay”) is similar to gold-plated, but the base metal is a high-quality silver and true vermeil plating is at least 100 millionths of an inch thick and 10k or higher.

Gold-filled jewelry has a lower-end base metal, like copper or bass, but has the thickest layer of gold, bonded with heat. The piece needs to have at least 5% gold weight to be authentic “gold-filled.”

Stainless Steel, Titanium & Tungsten Carbide
Stainless steel, titanium and tungsten carbide offer affordable alternatives to precious metal jewelry and are gaining popularity.

Material
These industrial metals have the benefits of being very strong, lightweight, hypoallergenic and scratch resistant, so they are well suited to active consumers who wear jewelry on a daily basis. When used in chain or link bracelets, the metals are less likely to break – making the need for repair infrequent.

CinloCo's Jewelry is none of the above.

A new kind of jewelry. We take a strong base metal such as stainless steel 316L (Marine grade steel) and coat our pieces with an advanced vacuum process (using pressure) with a bio-compatible gold ceramic found most often in medical implants. The lack of of historical significance of these materials in the jewelry field provides us a finished product that is durable, skin friendly, and much more affordable and Eco-friendly when compared to traditional fine metals.

When to buy CinloCo's "gold"

Our gold jewelry is ideal for most because of its affordable and hypoallergenic properties. additionally, our pieces are eco-friendly in both the materials and the methods utilized to create our jewelry. Our kind of gold is great for everyday activities since it is less likely to be effected by chemicals and water compared to gold plated metals. Unfortunately, if you invest in jewelry for its materials resale value, our gold jewelry is not ideal.