While gold and silver cannot cause tarnishing on one another, they can transfer it. Very much like how a contagious illness jumps from one person to the other, the transferring of tarnish can occur when a tarnished piece of jewellery makes contact with a non-tarnished bit of jewellery.
In the past, mixing silver and gold jewelry was a strict no (I'm sure you've heard that before!), but that's not true anymore. It's very on trend to mix your metals, especially if you do it thoughtfully. And even if it does go out of style, don't worry about it if you like it!
Until recently, there was a clear rule forbidding the combination of gold and silver jewelry, but modern trends have changed this rigid rule and more and more women in the fashion industry are seen successfully combining these two metals.
Fashion is what you make it, and mixing gold and silver gives you the ability to play with different styles and patterns in your jewelry to create a unique look. Wearing gold and silver together helps spice up your look and any extra splash of color will be accented by the two precious metals.
Some people are allergic to silver, so wearing one won't be beneficial to them health-wise. You will know if you're allergic to silver when your skin changes color and reacts to the silver upon wearing. The part of the skin that has been in contact with the silver jewelry will produce flakiness or redness on the skin.
The naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver is commonly known as electrum. Its colour depends on the ratio of gold and silver in the mix: a whitish alloy appears below 50 per cent gold, turning to greenish yellow as the amount of gold increases, and bright yellow at around 85 per cent gold.
Consider pairing your stainless steel jewelry with zirconia or diamond earrings and shiny metals like gold and silver. Wear it with other neutral colors. Stainless steel is a great accent color because it will go with pretty much anything.
IS IT OKAY TO WEAR MIXED METALS? The simple answer: yes! The idea that everyone should wear the same plating jewellery is a total myth - mixing metals with your jewellery gives a certain je ne sais quoi and it's a great way to make your jewellery stand out from the crowd.
Silver is brighter and might have more visual presence than gold, meaning you might need less silver pieces to balance your gold pieces. You can also create balance through an asymmetrical look, like wearing mostly silver and choosing a few pops of gold. Mix and match to see what you like.
Is mixing metals tacky? For many years combining different metals was seen as tacky or uncoordinated, but today it's a recommended strategy.
A mixed metal ring can naturally serve as a “bridging piece” between the two metals, allowing you to wear both metals in other necklaces, bracelets, rings, or earrings.
Stainless with stainless, aluminum with aluminum, brass with brass. Mixing metals can affect the strength of the application, the lifespan of the fasteners, the corrosion of the materials, etc.
Warm metals (like gold, brass, and copper) pair well with warm hues (like reds, browns, and yellows) while cool metals (such as chrome and silver) pair well with with cool hues (such as blue, green, and violet).
Metals commonly alloyed with gold for jewelry purposes include: silver, copper, nickel, iron, zinc, tin, manganese, cadmium, and titanium. In addition to enhancing gold's strength, alloying changes some of its other properties, too. For example, some gold alloys stain skin or cause allergic reactions.
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver.
Since silver is considered a neutral colour like black and white, it easily complements a range of colours including rose gold. Similarly, rose gold's hues of soft pink make lighter colours like cream, white and grey perfect complementary colours, which further supports the case for teaming silver with rose gold.
Gold is unaffected by air, water, alkalis and all acids except aqua regia (a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid) which can dissolve gold. In fact, gold's acid resistance is one of the reasons why our acid assays are so accurate. Gold does react with halogens.
Gold has also long been used for fillings and other repairs to teeth. Gold is one of the noblest—that is, least chemically reactive—of the transition elements. It is not attacked by oxygen or sulfur, although it will react readily with halogens or with solutions containing or generating chlorine, such as aqua regia.
Chlorine is gold's worst enemy: with repeated exposure, chlorine will weaken your gold jewelry's structure and eventually lead to it breaking. Make sure to take your jewelry off before getting in a pool or spa. Cover or remove while cleaning: household cleaners with acids or abrasives will damage your jewelry's finish.
Wearing different metals creates a casual, chic look, and multiple necklaces, rings and bracelets look great layered and stacked. Yellow, white, and rose gold are stunning when worn together, whether you choose to pair two different metals or wear all of them together.
Matching a metal
Cooler skin tones work best with white golds and platinum. Warm skin tones are well matched with yellow gold, but also look fabulous when dressed with less typical jewellery metals, such as copper and brass.
There are multiple different metals that can be worn on a daily basis. Gold, Platinum and Silver can all be worn on a daily basis. Silver is softer than gold and if worn with stones in it, should be worn with some precaution.
Create your own combined piece of jewelry by layering up silver and gold pieces. It will have the same effect as using a combined one and will allow you to wear both metal pieces wherever you want with the peace of mind that they will all blend in to create a unique style.