Everyday gold jewelry: how to buy it, test it and care for it

1 Pick the karat for how you will wear it

Higher karat means purer gold, not better jewelry for every purpose: purity trades directly against hardness. 14k is the sweet spot for pieces worn daily. 18k has the richer color and suits sensitive skin better, which makes it right for pieces worn less often.

Luxury Jewelry · 4 min read 14k vs 18k gold: which is actually right for everyday jewelry The real difference between 14k and 18k gold, why higher karat isn't always better for jewelry you never take off, and which to buy for what. Read this one

2 Check that it is real

Start with the hallmark, and learn the plating codes (GP, HGE, GF) that sit next to a karat number. Gold is not magnetic, plating wears through first at the highest-contact points, and a kitchen-scale density check separates solid gold from brass, which a simple float test cannot.

Luxury Jewelry · 4 min read How to tell if gold jewelry is real: five checks that take one minute Five checks you can do at home in under a minute to tell solid, filled and plated gold apart — no tools beyond what's already in your kitchen. Read this one

3 Clean it, and know what water does

Warm water and a drop of dish soap does almost all of it. Some household remedies cause the damage they promise to undo, especially on plated pieces. And “waterproof” has no standard behind it: gold thickness and what sits underneath decide whether a piece survives the shower.

Luxury Jewelry · 5 min read How to clean gold jewelry at home without damaging it Warm water and a drop of dish soap does almost all of it. What must never touch plating, and the home remedies that cause the damage they promise to fix. Read this one Luxury Jewelry · 5 min read Jewelry you can actually shower in, and why “waterproof” tells you nothing “Waterproof” has no standard behind it. Gold thickness and what sits underneath decide whether a piece survives, and water is not what kills it. Read this one

4 Choose metals your skin can wear

Nickel is in most white gold, a lot of sterling silver and nearly all steel, and it is the most common metal allergy. For new piercings, implant-grade titanium is nickel-free and light, while “surgical steel” is a marketing phrase that covers alloys containing nickel.

Luxury Jewelry · 5 min read Nickel allergy: what you can actually wear Nickel is in most white gold, a lot of sterling and nearly all steel. Which metals are safe, what the EU limit misses, and how to test what you own. Read this one Luxury Jewelry · 5 min read Piercing jewelry: “surgical steel” is not a standard, and titanium is not a fad The best piercing jewelry metal is implant-grade titanium: nickel-free and light. “Surgical steel” covers alloys with nickel, and cartilage heals slowly. Read this one

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