Gold Jewelery: All That Glitters Is Not Pure Gold!
If you choose to delve into the history of jewelry, you will realize that initially man and women in ancient civilizations used copper jewelry. After the discovery of alloys such brass and bronze, artisans making jewelry started using these alloys. Gradually, gold and silver ornaments gained popularity. In the recent past, pearl jewelry, platinum jewelry, and diamond jewelry have also become sought after. But gold remains to be the preferred material for fancy ornaments.
However, gold is a very costly metal. As such, people with limited income, typically belonging to the so-called "middle class" can not bear to buy jewelry made of pure gold. As such, some less costly material such as copper or silver is mixed with gold to reduce the cost of jewelry. This does not negatively impact the visual appeal of gold jewelry.
A carat is a unit that measures the percentage of gold in a mixture of gold and another metal. In jewelry stores, signs that label the number of carats in a piece of jewelry are common. A 24 carat piece is made of solid gold, but an 18 carat piece is comprised of 75 percent gold and 25 percent of another metal, which might cost a little less.
It is very difficult to make 24 carat gold ornaments because gold is a malleable but weak material. Because of its low tensile strength, small pieces can chip off from an ornament made out of pure gold. Only gold biscuits or coins made of almost pure gold are available for buyers. Other than these, you will have to choose from the alloyed gold jewelry.
Don't be discouraged if you simply cannot afford to purchase expensive golden jewels. You can find room in your budget for ones of equally fine appearance, perhaps ones that look even nicer than 22 carat jewelry. Consider purchasing semi-precious accessories that combine gemstones like garnets, emeralds, amethysts, or turquoise with 14 carat gold.
You can also choose to get silver jewelry that has been plated with gold. It is visually similar to gold, and if the plating quality is high, it can be nearly impossible to tell the difference between the two with just the naked eye.
Despite centuries of competition from cheaper ornaments, gold jewelery remains the most coveted fashion accessory. Since pure gold is easily chipped, solid gold is usually mixed with other materials to obtain a tough alloy during jewelry making. The purity of gold in an alloy is measured in carats (K). The benchmark solid gold is 24k, so a 12k piece of jewelry would indicate an ornament containing only 50 percent gold. Slightly better than that, the affordable 14k jewelry is often mixed with sapphire, ruby and emerald stones to be sold as semi precious jewelry. Also popular is gold plated silver jewelry which appears to be made of solid gold.
Published June 4th, 2008