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Why Does Gold Jewellery Turn Black? What Are The Preventive Actions?

Everyone must have heard the term ’24K gold’. 24K gold is nothing but gold in its purest form. Karat, abbreviated as K is the unit used to measure the purity of gold. 24K means that all the 24 parts in the gold are pure gold without traces of any other metal. Though it is said to be 100% pure, in actuality, even 24K gold is not 100% pure. It is known to be around 99.9% pure. Blackening of gold, sometimes referred to as gold tarnishing and the purity of gold are interlinked. There are many  reasons because of which gold jewellery turns black and this blog discusses some of these reasons as well as certain measures to prevent the same.

Oxidation:

24K gold is too soft and hence it is difficult to make jewellery from gold in its purest form. 24K gold is used to make bars and coins. To make jewellery, 24K gold is alloyed with other base metals. Although pure gold is the least reactive, the base metals are reactive to oxygen. When the added base metals react with oxygen, it causes discoloration or tarnishing of the gold jewellery. Although copper, silver, palladium, etc. are the common metals added to gold, some dishonest jewellers can add other metals as well to reduce costs. This increases the chances of discoloration of the jewellery item. The more the amount of added base metals, the more the chances of blackening of gold jewellery.

Effect of the skin:

Perspiration, commonly called sweating is something that can negatively affect your gold jewellery. Sweat contains NaCl i.e. sodium chloride which is responsible for tarnishing of the jewellery. It also contains other substances such as chlorine, lactic acid, urea, ammonia, etc. These substances after contact with gold jewellery having silver and copper alloys cause chemical reactions leading to the production of silver chloride and copper sulfide, which can lead to creation of deep black chemical salts.

Chemical products:

Chemicals found in most of the body care products like perfumes, body creams, body oils, lotions, moisturizers, deodorants, pain relief ointments and other products such as laundry detergents and bleach can also cause tarnishing of the gold jewellery. Gold jewellery can darken when it is frequently exposed to bath gels, shampoos, soaps, lotions, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, etc. For example, chlorine which is a highly reactive metal is found in products like detergents or even swimming pool water. This metal can damage your gold jewellery to a large extent.

Food products:

When impure gold jewelry is in contact with some food items containing acid and/or sulphur compounds like fruit juices, oils, soda, vinegar, pickles, etc., it can discolor or tarnish the gold jewellery. As mentioned above, if the gold is in its purest form, the chances of tarnishing because of food products will reduce drastically.

Preventive Actions:

The gold jewellery should be kept in closed boxes and containers. For certain types of jewellery such as Patchi and Kundan jewellery, it is better to keep them wrapped in a soft cloth rather than keeping them in boxes. In terms of usage, there is a golden rule that everyone should follow. Gold jewellery should be the first thing off and the last thing on. This means that you should remove the jewellery, especially when you are going to indulge in activities like swimming or showering and put it back on after you are done getting ready. You should avoid spraying yourself with perfume or applying body care products like creams near body parts adorned with jewellery. But the most important preventive measure is to be implemented before buying a piece of jewellery and not afterwards. You need to make sure that you choose a jewellery brand that provides high quality products. If you are looking for good quality gold jewellery, you should visit Ranka Jewellers in Pune.