The Brooker Standard:
Why we use palladium white gold:
Our rings are built to last, not built to come back for maintenance.
Why Palladium White Gold?
When you buy white gold from any other jewelry store, they tell you, "Come back every six months to a year to replate your jewelry."
Palladium white gold uses palladium—a naturally white precious metal—instead of nickel to bleach the yellow color of pure gold. Therefore, it's not plated and never replated.
Most white gold is made with nickel because it's much less expensive than palladium. The downside is that nickel white gold isn't naturally bright white, so it's plated over with a thin layer of rhodium to create the chrome-like finish people expect.
The problem is that this plating is temporary.
Every six months to a year, the plating wears through, and that warmer color underneath begins to show. The ring needs to be professionally replated to restore its bright white finish, which can cost $100 to $200 per plating. On top of that, nickel is one of the most common metal allergies, causing skin irritation for millions of people.
Palladium white gold solves both problems.
Because palladium is a naturally white precious metal, the gold itself stays beautifully white without relying on plating. And because it contains no nickel, it's hypoallergenic and comfortable for even the most sensitive skin.
Summary: Palladium white gold is a premium white gold alloy that stays naturally white, is hypoallergenic, and eliminates the constant maintenance of traditional white gold.
What is the difference between 14k and 18k?
14k is 58.5% pure gold. This is a standard alloy, and the most durable while maintaining the properties of gold. Such as tarnish resistance, and rich yellow color.
18k is the perfect balance of a rich yellow gold color and duability, while maintaining 75% pure gold content. The color difference is noticeably richer than 14k.
The Handmade Process Vs. Casting
Have you ever had a prong break and lose a stone? Has your ring cracked just by wearing it? For two years in the repair business, this is what I saw constantly. All I did was fix casted jewelry.
Casting requires special alloys that are hard immediately after they've cooled. This is efficient for mass production, but any jewelry made this way comes at the price of being brittle. The traditional way to harden a metal is to work it and form it. This is called work hardening. Rings made from work-hardened alloys are tougher and last longer than casting alloys ever will. It's the difference between a cast-iron pan and a folded Damascus steel blade. The worked steel will always outperform.
All of our pieces are formed from rolling alloys. This requires us to hammer, roll, and fabricate the metal into shape before finishing. This process is ancient, time-tested, and superior. However, it is time-consuming, intense, and requires much training and skill, but it yields the toughest, most durable, and highest quality jewelry hands can make. We truly are gold smiths.
What alloys & solders do we use?
We always start from virgin 999 fine gold to maintain the purest and cleanest alloys. Yellow, White, and rose alloys are always premium and of the highest quality. All our pieces are made from rolling alloys, not casting alloys.
Any jeweler will tell you that the weakest point of your ring is the solder. That's why we try to avoid soldering where possible. Instead, we fuse joints with a torch, similar to welding. This forms an amalgamous seam that is metalurgically undetectable. Where we do solder, we use the highest-quality, color-matched, cadmium-free, plumb solder(true to the purity of your piece).
Alloy metals include: Copper, Silver, and Zinc. Palladium for white gold.
Do your stones come with certifications?
Yes! We only purchase large stones certified by GIA or IGI. We send the paperwork and certifications with your order.
Durablility?
We spend hours upon hours handcrafting every piece of jewelry, and we pour our souls into everything we make. When we make you a piece of jewelry, we expect that you are going to wear it every day for the rest of your life. So we build them that way. We don't buy cheap materials.