Nersel’s Designer Trendy Gold Jewelry

Gold and Silver are the two most commonly used precious metals. Gold was a very popuear substance for use in ancient jewelry for three important reasons:

1. It could be found occuring naturally in a pure of state

2. It was easily worked

3. It did not corrode

Gold in the form of nuggets is found in river beds mixed with quarts, from which it is separated by washing or panning. It also exists as a mineral mixed with silver and copper. Initially these natural alloys were used to make pure gold. The name given to the alloy in which silver occurs with gold in a ratio of 1 to 5 is white gold or electrum. Archaeological evidence suggests that gold was first refined in Anatolia in Turkey. An idea of how old the origins of this process might be, is provided by the Greek word “obryza”. This word derives from Hittite and indicades ” melting.” Pactolos river was a major source of gold in antiquity. This has been confirmed by the excavations at the Lydian capital, Sardis, which have revealed traces of early furnaces beside the Pactolos, used for refining gold.

If gold is found in association with silver, the ore is put into a porous earthenware crucible and lead is added in order to get the two metals separate. The crucible is then heated over a charcoal fire in order to make the ore molten. This process is knows as cupellation. The pure molten gold is made into ingots by pouring it out into stone moulds. Goldsmiths would hammer these ingots into gold sheets, from which they would then make individudal pieces of jewelry. If it was desirable to make thinner sheets of gold, they would be placed between strips of stout leather or ebony wood and then hammered or beaten to the required thickness. Another process used for separating gold and silver from naturally occuring electrum is called cementation. This involves making the electrum into slab-shalped blocks and sprinkling over them a mixture of brick dust ans alt. The blocks and mixture are places, one layer on top of another, inside a coarseware cooking vessel and heated to a temperature of 700-800 C. It is then left in this red-hot state for some time, causing the silver to become attached to the brick dust and the gold to be thus released. The contencts of the cooking vessel are emptied out once this process is complete, and the gold is collected. Another process, knows as empellation, is then used to separate out the silver. Silver, like gold, is a precious metal that is frequently used in jewelry manufacture. It is usually found naturally in an alloy called Galena made up of a mixture of lead and silver. Refining silver from this alloy was first achieved in Anatolia in the 3rd millennium BC. The ore is first crushed, then washed and sifted. The refining of gold also produces quantities of silver and as with gold, refined silver would be made into ingots for further use.

Resource: Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ancient Jewelry

“Pink Gold, purple gold, blue gold, green gold, and black gold!
Mostly we think of shining yellow gold when we think of gold. This is its natural colour when 24 karat gold jewelry is created. Gold jewelry does in fact come in many colors, variants on the classic pure gold.  

The most popular and most often referred to is white gold jewelry, which was first brought into vogue in the 1920’s. White gold is made by adding “white” metals to gold, such as platinum, silver, zinc and nickel. White gold jewelry made with platinum can be more expensive then pure gold jewelry because platinum is currently worth more than gold.

The second most common variation on 24 karat gold jewelry is rose gold or red gold jewelry. Rose gold is created in varying hues by adding copper to gold.

In recent years, thanks to new technologies, new gold jewelry colours have evolved. Gold jewelry can now be found in colours such as black gold, green gold, purple gold and blue gold.

These new colours are often used in combinations to highlight each other or in small amounts to add contrast to yellow, white or rose gold.

Examples of designer gold jewelry using different coloured golds can be seen in the Les Symboliques collection by Boucheron.

Jarretiere has also been innovative with their creation and use of coloured golds in their jewelry collections.

How are colored golds made?

According to KaiJewels.com, making colored golds is possible by formation of special gold metal compounds (Intermetallic Compounds) or by forming a surface coating on gold (Patination Of Gold).

Alloying gold and aluminium makes purple gold. Purple gold is often used to highlight white gold jewelry. View examples of purple gold jewelry.
Blue Gold is made by the interaction of gold and indium with manufacturing techniques being similar to those used to make purple gold.

Black Gold can be created using quite a few techniques using black rhodium or ruthenium, amorphouse carbon, and oxidation of carat gold containing chromium or cobalt. Read more about the techniques used to create colored gold jewelry.

According to 24carat.co.uk, Green gold is made by combining gold and silver with no copper in the alloy mix producing a greenish yellow. Most green golds are very soft and generally used only as small amounts to highlight other gold colors.

Colored golds add another avenue of creative possibilities for gold jewelry designers. The gold jewelry being designed with colored golds incorporated is a testimony to this and colored golds are becoming more popular in their use in modern.”

Resource: http://goldprice.org/gold-jewelry/2006/01/purple-gold-blue-gold-green-gold-black.html

The below article by Carly Wickell is a great resource on Gold and provides some useful information.

“Understanding Gold Terminology

Gold jewelry never goes out of style, and for good reason, because gold is as wearer-friendly as it is beautiful. Pure gold doesn’t react with other elements to create tarnish, the residue that accumulates on some metals before transferring to your skin as a stain. Sometimes people have allergy or staining problems with metals that are combined with gold, but the gold itself is rarely a problem.

Gold can be worked into nearly any shape, from tiny strands that do not break easily to very thin sheets. One ounce of gold can even be hammered into an ultra thin sheet that’s ten feet square. Gold can be manipulated nearly any way the artisan desires.

How Pure Is Your Gold Jewelry?

Chances are the ring on your finger is marked 18K, 14K, or 10K, with the K standing for karat, the system used to describe the percentage of pure gold an item contains.

The higher the karat number, the higher the percentage of gold in your gold jewelry. 

• 24K gold is pure gold. 
• 18K gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 75% gold. 
• 14K gold contains 14 parts gold and 10 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 58.3% gold. 
• 12K gold contains 12 parts gold and 12 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 50% gold. 
• 10K gold contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 41.7% gold. 10K gold is the minimum karat that can be called “gold” in the United States.

European Markings

European gold jewelry is marked with numbers that indicate their percentage of gold, such as:

• 18K gold is marked 750 to indicate 75% gold
• 14K gold is marked 585 for 58.5%
• 12K gold is marked 417 for 41.7%

Other Markings on Gold Jewelry

The karat marking on your gold jewelry should be accompanied by a hallmark or trademark that identifies its maker. The item’s country of origin might also be included.

Why Are Other Metals Mixed With Gold?

You’ll find examples of pure gold jewelry, but pure gold is soft and isn’t practical for daily wear. Other metals are mixed with it to make it more durable (and to lower its cost).

Adding other metals to the mix also allows metallurgists to change the color of gold. Palladium or nickel can be added to create white gold. Adding copper produces a rose or pink tint, while silver gives gold a greenish cast.

When metals are added to the gold the result is an alloy, a blended mixture of the metals that you can think of as a very expensive cake batter. Solid gold is a term that can be used to describe an item that’s at least 10K (in the US) gold all the way through. Even though it’s a gold alloy–18K, 14K, or anything down to 10K–it can be called solid gold.

When Gold Is Used as a Coating

There are many ways to mechanically apply a coating of gold onto a much less expensive metal, reducing the item’s cost. The thicker the layer of gold, the less likely it is to wear away easily and expose the metal underneath.

Gold Filled Jewelry

Newer gold filled items have markings that indicate how much and what type of gold was used for the layer. A marking that says 1/20 12K G.F. means that the jewelry is at least 1/20th 12K gold by weight.

Gold Plated Jewelry

The gold layer in gold plated jewelry is typically thinner than the gold in gold filled jewelry, so it usually wears away more quickly. Plating is done in different ways.

You might see terms such as gold washed used to describe a very thin layer of gold–one that won’t be very durable.

So What Should You Buy?

Solid gold is durable, so it is a better choice for jewelry you’ll wear regularly. If you have allergies to nickel or other metals, choose items that have high gold content, such as 18K or 22K gold jewelry.

Gold filled or plated jewelry is suitable for jewelry that you wear occasionally. Everyday use would eventually diminish the gold layer, exposing the metal below, which might stain your skin or cause an allergic reaction.

For pieces that will last a lifetime and beyond, buy the highest quality gold your budget allows.”

 resource: http://jewelry.about.com/od/jewelrymetals/a/gold_jewelry.htm?nl=1 

by Carly Wickell

What is Gold? Gold is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Au (L. aurum) and atomic number 79. A soft, shiny, yellow, heavy, malleable, ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal, gold does not react with most chemicals but is attacked by chlorine, fluorine and aqua regia.

• Gold is a yellow, noble metal
• Its chemical symbol is Au, from Aurora, or dawn
• Pure gold is 24 karats, or 99.999% pure. 100% pure gold is nearly impossible to refine.
• Gold is a very dense metal with a density of 19.32 g/cm3 which gives it a very heavy atomic weight of 196.9665 g/atom.

Gold is one of the rarest and most precious elements of the nature. Its physical characteristics include its beautiful natural color, malleable to the extreme, and in its pure form, it is resistant to any kind of corrosion. Since gold is ductile and malleable in it’s pure form, it must be alloyed with various other metals to harden it and in some cases, change it’s color. The metals used in the alloying process include silver, copper, nickel, zinc, tin and manganese.
What is a Karat? Karat grade is used to express the proportion of gold in an alloy or the quality of a gold alloy. There are several carats available for gold. The carat is the gold content of the metal. The carat measures the proportion of pure gold mixed with other metal alloy to make up the final metal. Carat can also be called karat, represented by kt or K. Our jewelry has karat grades stamped on them followed by K.The higher the proportion of gold used in the final metal, the more valuable and expensive the metal will be. The remainder of the metals is made up of a combination of alloys, different metals which can help to give the metal its unique appearance, such as a different color.

Karat Gold 10K 41.67% 14K 58.33% 18K 75.00% 22K 91.66% 24K 99.55%

Resource: wikipedia

What are the different colors of Gold? Gold is available in several different colors such as yellow gold, white gold, rose gold, bronze, red and lime gold. Jewelry can also be made using a combination of different gold colors. These jewelry items are sometimes called two-tone, three-tone or multi-colored gold. The gold content of yellow gold is measured in the same way it is measured in for example white gold. The difference in color between yellow, white and rose is determined by the metals used in the alloy mix.As the color difference is due to the metal components in the alloy mix, the color will not chip, fade or wear off with age. Yellow gold is made by mixing pure gold with alloy metals such as copper and zinc. Rose gold is made using a mix of pure gold with alloys including copper. The copper provides the rose-reddish color.White gold is an alloy of gold and some white metals such as silver and palladium. 24 karat Gold has a stunning visual Gold effect Mixing Gold with Copper causes a visual Reddening effect Mixing Gold with Silver causes a visual Greening effect Mixing Gold with Zinc causes a visual Bleaching effect of the gold Mixing Gold with Nickel or Palladium causes a visual Whitening effect

Please see our gold color palette to get an idea about various gold colors and different finishes.
What is the difference between White Gold and Yellow Gold? Pure Yellow Gold (fine gold) is softer than pure silver, but harder than tin. Its beauty and luster are unmatched by any alloyed golds (pure gold mixed with other metals). The extreme malleability, ductility, and softness of pure gold make it practically useless for jewelry applications. The addition of alloying elements (other metals) to gold are used to increase the toughness and hardness of the metal. While almost any metal can be alloyed (melted) with gold, only certain metals will not dramatically change the color or make the metal brittle. The addition of the metal like Indium (great as an alloy with Platinum), for instance, turns gold into a purple color and gives resulting gold the workability of glass. Over time, certain percentages of gold have become legally recognized “karats.” The karat indicates the amount of gold as a percentage of the total: In karated gold, there is a balance of the other metals in the non-gold percentage. These metals provide the various colors and hardness of karated golds.
What is Planitum? Platinum is a white metal, but unlike gold it is used in jewelry in almost its pure form (approximately 95% pure). Platinum is extremely long wearing and is very white, so it does not need to be rhodium plated like white gold does. Platinum is very dense and heavy metal, so a platinum ring will feel heavier than an 18K gold ring. Platinum is, however, significantly more expensive than gold. With all other things being the same, a platinum ring will be approximately twice the price of an 18ct white gold ring. Platinum is a prestige choice and is often chosen for its sophisticated appeal and popularity amongst the rich and famous. Platinum’s price is higher compared to gold.