Charm Bracelet

Rules, rules, rules.

Women should never wear a ring on the ring finger of their left hand unless it’s an engagement ring or wedding band.

Don’t mix real gemstones with fakes.

Never wear a bracelet and watch on the same wrist.

Your jewelry pieces should always match each other. 

Never mix metals.

Do you know what all these jewelry rules have in common? They’re no longer rules!

Let’s take a look at one no-longer-a-rule, rule: Never mix metals. 

Gold Bead Bracelets

 

Silver and Gold Mixed Bracelets

Today you can mix it up to your heart’s content. In fact, many jewelry pieces feature mixed metals.

But if you’re still a little nervous about doing it, here are some things to know.

KNOW YOUR METALS

 

The “big three” precious metals used in jewelry are platinum, gold, and silver. 

Platinum is a bright white metal.  So is silver and so is white 14k gold.

Gold can be classified by color. 

The three most common are:

• Yellow gold, made by mixing pure gold with silver, copper, and zinc.
• White gold, made of gold and platinum (or palladium). 
• Rose gold (or pink gold), alloyed with gold, copper, and silver.

But there’s also grey gold, black gold, blue gold, and even green gold. Truth be told we've never seen green gold in a piece of jewelry, but that would be cool!

And of course, to mix things up there is also plated gold jewelry over sterling silver.  What is that all about and how do you take care of gold plated jewelry?  Well, don't worry we've got great information about gold plated 14k jewelry.

Sterling silver is a white metal, but it can appear darker (blacked) when it is intentionally oxidized.  

Oxidized is different from tarnishing, which you can read about on the blog post about how annoying tarnished silver really is.

Amulet Necklace 

And everyone is familiar with the unique color of copper.

But there’s more. 

Alternative Metals

Leather and Pewter Bracelet with Star

Several metals have been repurposed into popular jewelry, especially with men. 

Pewter comes to mind when thinking of this idea.

Cobalt jewelry is made from the same bluish-tone metal used to build jet aircraft engines. 

Stainless steel is a silvery‐white color with a mirror finish that retains its shine and color very well and resists tarnishing

Titanium is versatile, lightweight, and durable, with a silvery‐white metallic color.

Tungsten is very heavy with a steel gray to tin‐white color and a lustrous finish.

What does all this mean?

Think about mixing to create color combinations, not metal combinations.

• Yellow and rose gold
• Rose gold and copper
• Sterling silver and stainless steel
• Oxidized sterling silver and dark tungsten

And don’t be afraid to throw in some leather or beaded bracelets.

In conclusion, you could probably say there are no rules.

So mix it up!