24K Gold and 925 Silver: The Materials Behind the Art
Two materials do almost all the work in our pieces. Here is what each one is and why it is there.
24K Gold
24 karat is pure gold - no alloy. It is the softest and warmest form, which is why it is rarely used for jewellery that gets knocked about, and why it is ideal for a surface that will hang on a wall and simply be looked at.
Gold's defining property is that it does not react. It does not oxidise, tarnish, or corrode. Gold recovered from shipwrecks after centuries underwater comes up looking as it did when it went down. This is the entire reason it has been the material of permanence across every culture that found it.
On our work, the gold is applied in hand-laid layers over formed metal. Hand application produces slight variation across the surface, which is what makes it shift as you move rather than sitting flat.
925 Sterling Silver
925 means 92.5 percent silver, with the remaining 7.5 percent usually copper. Pure silver is too soft to hold a fine edge, so the alloy exists to give it structure. The 925 standard has been in use for roughly eight hundred years.
We use silver on select models where a design needs a second tone - a cooler, brighter element set against the warmth of the gold. Used well, the contrast does more for a piece than either metal alone.
Silver does tarnish. It reacts with sulphur compounds in air and darkens over time, more quickly in humid or coastal environments. This is normal, it is not damage, and it is reversible with a silver cloth. We would rather tell you this than have you discover it in year three and assume something went wrong.
Underneath
Both metals sit on a formed metal base. The base carries the structure and the detail. The precious metals carry the surface.
The Velvet and the Frame
Each piece is set on a velvet field, black or white. Velvet absorbs rather than reflects, so it darkens the space behind the gold and pushes it visually forward. It is the reason the work reads with depth rather than as a flat panel.
The frame comes in gold, black, white, or bronze, on a deliberately restrained profile.
Caring For It
Dust with a dry, soft cloth. Nothing abrasive, no solvents, no glass cleaner on the metal. Silver elements can be brightened with a proper silver cloth when they darken. Direct sunlight all day will not harm the gold, but it will fade velvet over years, so an adjacent wall beats a facing one.