What Do Jewellers Like About Gold?
By Steffan Suter
Buying gold has been regarded as one of the best investments for ages. Since its discovery the value of gold has remained very high because of its rarity. According to geologists, it is found mainly in low concentrations in rocks. Therefore, people possessing gold bullions and jewellery have been always considered the wealthiest and the most powerful. From the Ancient times to the modern era, man has been fascinated with the beauty and magic of gold as well as its ability to influence man’’s life.
Properties and purity
Gold has been one of the most favourite precious metals of jewelers; its unique properties make it one of the most desirable metals. Unlike some other metals, gold is not affected by oxygen in the atmosphere and remains tarnish-free. It is malleable and easy to work with.
The purity of gold is one of the major factors determining its value. Carats are units of measurement used to determine the purity of gold alloys. 24K gold is considered the purest because it contains the least amount of other metals. However, a 24K piece of gold is not suitable for jewellery purposes because it is too soft. Although there are some cultures that wear pure gold jewellery. Yet, it needs to be heavily made and carefully worn. Jewellers mainly use 22K and 18K gold. It is of high value and contains 91.7% and 75% of pure gold correspondently. 14K and 10K gold are less popular with jewellers and customers. The content of pure gold in these alloys is small; they contain large amounts of nickel, silver, copper or zinc. In fact, the higher Carat weight a gold piece of jewellery has, the more valuable it is.
Colour
Yellow is a natural colour of gold. Traditionally, it has been considered the colour of wealth and prosperity. There is no wonder that gold of this colour was used to produce jewellery and metal money for many centuries.
White gold became fashionable in the 1920s mainly as a substitute for expensive platinum. Back in the day, jewellers used at least three ”recipes” of white gold. They mixed together yellow and white metals: yellow gold with nickel, palladium and silver. There are some other white metals that when mixed together with yellow gold add a silvery shade to the alloy. However, the overall colour of the gold piece is not so ”white” as in case with nickel, palladium or silver.
Today some jewellers highly value other colours of gold: rose and green. Rose gold is also known as red or pink gold. It was popularly used in the late Victorian and Edwardian jewellery. Its rose-pink colour is the result of mixing yellow gold together with copper. The colour is said to intensify with time.
Green is the rarest colour of gold. The mixture of pure gold and pure silver creates a yellow metal with a slight greenish tint. Green gold was known to Lydians from around 2,900 years ago. They called it electrum and often used it as metal money.
Gold has been known to the human civilization for centuries, and today it still remains a popular metal.
About The Author
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