Way before the American Dollar, the British Pound, or the Indian Rupee came on the scene there was another measure of wealth. Gold has been valued as a currency practically since it was found. It is still used today to denote one’s wealth. Rare and very heavy, it’s been used as a status symbol for kings and merchants alike. This is our guide into the world of gold, and we hope you enjoy this journey into the world of this precious metal.
Denoting itself as one of the worlds most valuable and precious metals, gold sets itself apart from the rest of the precious metals. It is so malleable and soft that just one mere ounce of it will produce a wire that can stretch 5 miles in length. If you would prefer to pound it rather than stretch it, you could create a sheet that will cover 100 square feet. Because it cannot corrode or rust it will last almost indefinitely.
Gold can be found almost everywhere and anywhere. It is found in our seas and rivers, in the crust beneath our feet, and in our plants as well. It’s too bad that it is so expensive and difficult to extract. This is what makes gold so pricey. It will take about 2.5 to 3 tons of gold ore to produce one single ounce of pure gold.
Gold is the most popular metal in today’s jewelry. This is pretty much a given. It is used in fine jewelry, heart jewelry, good jewelry, cool jewelry, you name it. Most of the gold goes into one “shape” though. Do you happen to know what it is? It’s the simple wedding band. Since gold is so soft and malleable, it is not used by itself though. It is often combined with other metals to give it strength and durability. When two or more metals are combined they form what is known as an alloy. Most of the gold that we use in our jewelry production today is in the form of an alloy.
What are these types of jewelry you ask? How about: (1) Gold jewelry, (2) White gold jewelry, (3) Gold plated jewelry, (4) Gold charm jewelry, (5) Rose gold jewelry, (6) Wholesale gold jewelry, (7) Gold body jewelry, (8) 24k gold jewelry, (9) 22k gold jewelry, (10) 18k gold jewelry, (11) 14k gold jewelry, (12) Indian gold jewelry, (13) Gold horse jewelry, (14) Plus other fine gold jewelry items.
Have you ever heard the word karat before? It is often used when referring to gold. It is derived from the word for the fruit of the carob tree. Some popular examples are: the Greek word “keration”, the Italian word “carato”, and the Arabic word “girat”. The seeds of the carob tree were used to measure the size of precious gems in the ancient world. Since the solidus (the pure Byzantine coin) weighed in at 24 karats, the 24 karat mark (or 24KT or 24K) became the mark used to denote that the item in question was in fact made of pure gold.
That’s it. We’ll wrap up this tour of the world of gold for now. Please visit our blog where we will go into more details on the subject of gold, heart jewelry, and just jewelry in general. See you there…
If you want to find out more about heart jewelry or open heart jewelry, then visit Betsy Johnson’s blogs.
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