Why is my gold jewelry cracking?

Several conditions can cause gold jewelry to break.

Manufacturing processes such as stamping, forming, casting, soldering and welding can all cause defects that weaken the piece. This type of defect is usually discovered by quality control inspection and the part or item is rejected before ever leaving the production facility.

Another type of break is mechanical stress.While any metal can crack when bent back and forth several times this isn't usually the case with jewelry unless it is a spring, fastening or other mechanism that receives a lot of flexing.

The most common problem is a result of 'corrosion stress fracturing'.
Very common chemicals in our environment can have a detrimental effect on the integrity of the alloy structure of karat gold especially chlorinated water and salt water.

Gold jewelry alloys are designed to make pure gold more durable and take on an attractive coloration depending on the metals used for the alloy. While pure gold is virtually non-reactive to the chemicals in our environment the 'base' metals composing the alloys are highly reactive. Copper gives gold a reddish tint as in 'rose gold' or 'pink gold' and nickel or palladium give gold it's white color. Silver gives gold a very pale color known as 'green gold'. Usually a rich yellow color is imparted to gold by using a mixture of silver and copper. Other trace metals can be added to improve specific working properties of the alloy for casting, rolling, milling, etc.

The effect of all these metals melted together is a crystal matrix of alloyed karat gold. Imagine this mix of metals as a popcorn ball with peanuts(gold), popcorn(silver) and candy(copper) all bonded together. Now imagine running water over this popcorn 'alloy'. The sugar syrup glue starts softening, the popcorn starts getting soggy and the candy starts melting and staining everything. Eventually the popcorn ball loses its shape and crumbles leaving you with a handful of peanuts!

Karat gold is a little like that example in that the microscopic crystal array is a blend of the metals. The chemicals in our environment do the eroding of the alloys and weaken the structure allowing it to crack. At first, this effect can target crevices in the jewelry or stressed areas from the manufacturing process, however if exposure is prolonged or concentrated enough the entire piece can be affected, weakening and discoloring it.

It is best to avoid wearing jewelry while swimming in salt water, chlorinated pool or spa water or even showering in municipal water.