Gold Jewelery Have Retained Their Charm
If you choose to delve into the history of jewelry, you will realize that initially man and women in ancient civilizations used copper jewelry. After the discovery of alloys such brass and bronze, artisans making jewelry started using these alloys. Gradually, gold and silver ornaments gained popularity. In the recent past, pearl jewelry, platinum jewelry, and diamond jewelry have also become sought after. But gold remains to be the preferred material for fancy ornaments.
Even so, gold is expensive to purchase. People who aren't rich usually can't afford to acquire many pieces that are made of pure gold alone. That's why other metals are often mixed in with the gold in jewelry, to stretch the gold further and reduce the price without affecting the visual impact of the ornaments.
A carat is a unit that measures the percentage of gold in a mixture of gold and another metal. In jewelry stores, signs that label the number of carats in a piece of jewelry are common. A 24 carat piece is made of solid gold, but an 18 carat piece is comprised of 75 percent gold and 25 percent of another metal, which might cost a little less.
Making ornaments out of 24 carat gold is very difficult because although gold is malleable, it is rather weak. Due to low tensile strength, small chips can come off an ornament that is made out of pure gold. Only coins or biscuits made out of nearly pure gold are available for buyers. Other than these options, you must choose from gold jewelry made from alloys.
Don't be discouraged if you simply cannot afford to purchase expensive golden jewels. You can find room in your budget for ones of equally fine appearance, perhaps ones that look even nicer than 22 carat jewelry. Consider purchasing semi-precious accessories that combine gemstones like garnets, emeralds, amethysts, or turquoise with 14 carat gold.
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.
Several materials are used to design ornaments. Initially, copper was used in ancient civilizations. Then bronze and brass became popular. With the discovery of gold and silver, designing and wearing jewelry became expensive. Fascination for gold jewelery has only grown. If you are not one of those people who can expend a fortune on gold jewelry, don't be dismayed. There are a variety of ways to buy jewelry that looks just as good as the high end merchandise. One way to do this is to buy semi precious jewelry that combines semi precious stones like sapphires, rubies, and emeralds with 14k jewelry.
Published June 4th, 2008
