Gold Jewelery: Tips To Decode Their Purity
Lots of different kinds of materials can be used to create ornaments. In ancient times, copper ornaments were popular. Then, they gave way to bronze or brass pieces. After gold and silver became more readily available, the price of jewelry was affected, but more and more people became interested in buying trinkets. Other popular trinket materials include pearls, platinum, and diamonds. Even so, the most popular material for jewelry is gold, and it retains its popularity right down to the present day.
That said, we all know that gold prices are touching the sky. This makes it impossible for the salaried or worker class to afford ornaments made of pure gold. In order to reduce the cost of gold ornaments, a small amount of a less precious metal such as copper or silver is alloyed with gold to make ornaments.
The actual gold content in an alloy which is a combination of gold and a less expensive metal is measured in carats. In jewelry stores, you will notice on each golden object a numeral and the little "K" which is the symbol for "carat". Solid gold is indicated by the number 24, while 18 tells you that the jewel consists of an alloy which is made of 3/4 gold and 1/4 of something else not as costly.
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.
If you are somebody who does not have a fortune to splurge on gold jewelry, do not be disheartened. There are several ways you can buy jewelry that looks equally good, if not better, than 22 carat jewelry. One way is buying semi precious jewelry that marries semi precious stones such as ruby, sapphire, and emerald with 14k jewelry.
You can also choose instead to wear gold plated silver jewels. They bear a striking similarity to the real gold ornaments. In fact, where the quality of the plating is superior, it is almost impossible to distinguish which is which without a jeweler's loupe.
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