About Gold - Some Delightful Discoveries

Our obsession with the yellow beauty of gold has led us to want to decorate our bodies with things made from it and we imagine ourselves made more beautiful and desirable with the wearing of a dangling earring or a gold medallion pendant. Gold has helped us build up a very viable trade in wearable gold jewelry because of its properties and the fact that it mixes readily with other metals, like copper, which render soft gold harder and more durable. Gold is a great mineral metal for making jewelry as it never tarnishes, has the properties of ductility, (can be beaten flat - one ounce can be beaten out to 300 square feet), sectility, (can be cut into thin slices), malleability, (can be stretched into a thin wire) and has a high density.

The term carat specifies the amount of gold present - 24 carat describes pure gold. Gold metal has a butter yellow color in a mass, but may be black, purple or ruby when finely divided. Gold easily forms alloys with other metals which will then act to increase the hardness or bring out extraordinary colors. If copper is added to gold, a redder metal is obtained; add iron to gold equals blue, aluminum produces purple platinum brings out white, and bismuth and silver alloys yield black. In addition heat, moisture, oxygen and most corrosive agents have little chemical effect on gold, all of which make gold very useful in making coins and in jewelry making.

The gold content of jewelry alloys is gauged in carats (K), 24 K being the utmost in gold. Most often, it is sold in lower measurements of 22K, 18K, 14K, and 10K. The lower the K, the higher percent of silver, copper or other base metals in the alloy. Copper is the more commonly used base metal. 18K gold appears yellow/green. White 18K gold can be made with 17.2% nickel, 5.5% zinc and 2.2% copper and is silver in appearance. Other white gold alloys are otainable based on palladium, silver and other white metals: the palladium alloys are more expensive than those using nickel, and nickel is said to be toxic and its release from nickel white gold is controlled by legislation in Europe. High carat white gold alloys are more resistant to corrosion than pure silver or sterling silver.

Resources:
http://www.OnlyGold.com
Blanchard, The Gold Standard for the Intelligent Investor

Margaret Heaps is a native born Californian who sees life as not long enough to fit everything in. She has grass roots in Petaluma, California and Nicasio, California, where her great grandfather bought land from gold that he mined in the Gold Rush of 1848 and created a high yield dairy farm. With this background legacy, she married and raised six boys, went back to school and became a registered nurse; this was her profession for many years. Now that she has retired, her energy level still high, she has undertaken to start a business on eBay. Her store is at http://www.stores.ebay.com/maggie6090watchesjewelry-4-you

Gold Jewelry Alternatives
Gold jewelry in Austin can be on the more expensive side for many people. In fact, besides the more rare metals such as plat...

Glyconutrients: A Sweet Remedy
New discoveries in medicine are always exciting, when the results of these discoveries can potentially bring a wide range of ...

Dallas Gold Exchange
With the current and sliding state of the economy, many Dallas residents are finding that affording the necessities of life i...

Dallas Gold and Silver
Those living in Dallas are suffering from the same economic crunch as those who are living in every other part of the country...

White Gold Pendants
Application of alloys of white gold for the wares of jewellers, as an alternative to more dear platinum, is known from 20th.T...

Gold Jewelry Buying Guide
Are you wondering what type of gold you should consider when buying your jewelry? You are not alone. There are so many choice...

Choosing Gold Plated Silver
When a person chooses to purchase and wear silver jewelry over that of gold in Texas, they are following a growing trend. Th...

White Gold Diamond Engagement Ring
If you decide for a classic and traditional look on an engagement ring you can opt for a diamond with a gold band. But to add...

The Journey of Gold
Gold has been admired and vehemently sought throughout history, though its evident natural beauty is only one of the characte...

Your Status and Your Jewelry
Many people view their jewelry as somewhat of a status symbol. They feel that their jewelry will speak to others about who t...

Gold Diamond Engagement Rings
Jewelry is unique; a consumer product one may say but is an engagement ring, or a wedding band, or a vivid color gemstone jew...

Karat Vs Carat - Making the Distinction
Without being a jewelry industry expert, the jumble of industry specific terms you encounter while shopping for engagement ri...

Choosing the Right Precious Metal
When you are buying jewelry such as diamond rings, eternity rings, engagement rings, wedding or anniversary bands, your first...

Assessing The Value Of Jewellery
Carat (ct) : In the world of jewellery, carat has two measures; mass and purity of gold. First of all I will explain the mass...

Jewelry Manufacturing Terms - Explained
If you have ever shopped for jewelry, you have likely encountered numerous seemingly foreign terms which describe the way par...

Beware Of Anyone Wanting A Currency Exchange With The Same Bank
Most of the frauds people are aware of in e-currencies is that whereby the scammer, pays for an item from a reversible e-curr...

Getting Money From Jewelery
Getting rid of your jewelry can be heartbreaking but necessary all at the same time. Many people become attached to their je...

Choosing Silver Over Gold
For many in Dallas, silver can carry the misconception that is cheap and only those who cannot afford to buy gold will wear i...

White Gold vs Platinum Jewelry
Jewelry pieces are available in a wide array of metals. Perhaps the two most common metals which one will see with jewelry ar...

Tips for Buying Cross Pendants
Cross pendants are the perfect accessories to show the world your faith. Available in a wide variety of styles, its quite sim...