International Jewels : Gold Investments

Gold, a heavy yellow metallic chemical element used in making a wide range of products such as jewelry coins and electronics. As far back as the Egyptians, they used gemstones such as sapphires, rubies, emeralds and gold as the most precious of all rocks and metals in worship and healing. The Egyptians treated gold sacredly, as it looked like the color of the sun and after their god and creator of their universe Re.

It is believed that gold possessed a great healing power, as formed into a powder it was placed into drinks and ingested to comfort aching limbs or placed on the skin to cure ulcers. A German Nobel Prize winner Robert Koch, a bacteriologist discovered that compounds made with gold inhibited growth of the bacillus casing tuberculosis. Because it is biologically benign, biochemists today use gold to form compounds with proteins to create new drugs. However, most people associate gold with jewelry use.

Gold is weighed in troy ounces, for instance 1 troy ounce equals 1.097 ordinary ounces or 1 tonne equals 32,151 troy ounces. There are three different ways of describing gold?s purity these are percent, fineness and karats. If you have something that is 24 Karat gold then this is pure gold, 18 Karat gold would contain 18 parts of gold to 6 parts of another metal, bringing it to approximately 75% gold, 14 Karat gold would contain 14 parts of gold to 10 parts of another metal, bringing it to approximately 58% gold, 12 Karat would contain 12 parts of gold to 12 parts of another metal, bringing it to approximately 50% gold and finally 10 Karat would contain 10 parts of gold to 14 parts of another metal, bringing it to approximately 41% gold, which is the minimum karat amount that can be considered gold in the United States.

There are five different Alloys in gold they are White, Rose, Pink Green and Black Hills Gold. White gold has nickel added to it to create a white color, but can be a negative to those who are nickel sensitive. However palladium is another metal that is used, it is related to platinum that can be used instead of nickel, although it is more expensive then nickel when used. The Rose or Pink gold is when copper is added to the gold creating a pinks and rose tones. However the more copper that is used the deeper the color. The Green Gold is created when adding silver to gold. Finally, Black hills gold has a nice look of the different colored gold. More then 50% of Black Hills gold uses 10 Karat to 12 Karat gold in all the different shades of alloys the greens, yellows, pinks and roses.

When looking for gold jewelry it is important to know what the different terms used when describing the actual piece that you are looking to buy. It is always better to look at the piece(s) that you want to buy carefully as there are several terms gold can be used such as gold filled, gold plated, gold leaf and vermeil. For instance, if you have something that is gold filled or in the most common term used gold overlay, this means that there is a thin layer of 10 Karat gold that is permanently bonded to a support metal by heat and pressure, then rolled to a certain thickness resulting by at least 1/10 of the weight of the total piece. Gold plated is when material containing a layer of plating of 10 karat gold or greater is bonded to a base metal; however the gold used maybe less then 1/20 of the weight of the total piece. Gold leaf is when pure gold is flattened into sheets and applied by hand; this method usually results in about 3 micro-inches thick. Finally we have vermeil. Vermeil is when gold that is about 15-micro-inches think is applied to sterling through a mechanical process.

In India, it is common place to give pure 24 kt gold gifts for special occassions. This is a very practical way to invest in gold yet enjoy your investment as the pure godl can be easily sold due to the purity. The gift of a pure gold necklace will always be well received and you can take satisfaction that you gave a gift which is also an inevestment - a wearable investment.

Weather is your purchasing gold for business or for pleasures it important to understand gold and the terms used. Once you have a sense of knowledge about the different styles and types you can then choose your favorites or seal the deal with piece of mind.

Comments from Stroud in USA
     Posted on: 09-24-2007
     Rating: Positive

Thanks for the information. I have got good quality of gold jewelry from CouponAlbum site (http://www.couponalbum.com).

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     Posted on: 02-08-2010
     Rating: Positive

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