Aurum. The Gold
Real gold jewelry has been relevant at all times, regardless of fashion trends. Gold jewelry can be found more often than other types of jewelry. This metal is used to make all kinds of pieces: wedding bands, pendants, bracelets, chains, and so on. Gold comes in different kinds of proofs, which are identified by a small stamp on the underside of the jewelry, and it also comes in a wide variety of colors.
What is the gold hallmark?
Many people talk about it when buying gold, but many people don't know what it really means. A gold hallmark is the percentage of the precious metal in an alloy in which special alloy additives are added to make the item stronger. Usually they are copper, silver, nickel, chrome and platinum. The well-known gold jewelry is made of various alloys: gold earrings, watches and necklaces. It is considered that the jewelry is made of 100% gold, but its maximum percentage in the alloy is 99.99%. This percentage is called 24 carat or 999 proof according to the American system; this is the purest gold. It is considered the most valuable, but it is not used in jewelry industry, as it is too soft and easily deformed.
Carat grading system is widely used abroad, while our jewelers prefer to use gold assay.
The most common are:
375 (9-carat) carat - percentage of aurum in this alloy is only 37.5%. Such items are quite durable, but tarnish too quickly with improper care.
585 (14-carat gold): This is the hallmark applied to the majority of jewelry. The amount of pure precious metal is 58.5%, which is optimal for practical use.
750 proof or 18 carat - as you can guess from the figure, exactly 75% of the metal will be added to the product.
Thus, the jewelry store will not sell products made of pure gold to customers.
Colored gold
Through the proper use of alloying (adding metals to the alloy), jewelers have learned to achieve different colors. For example, there are white, rose, yellow and red gold.
Yellow is a classic variant of coloring of aurum jewelry. Such a familiar color is obtained by adding copper and silver in the correct proportions.
Red (chervonnye) jewelry will turn out if you add a sufficient amount of copper. It is she gives the jewelry an interesting and noble appearance.
The combination of pure aurum with platinum and palladium gives a light silver shade of alloy. White is often the most expensive choice, but it makes the piece look elegant, especially for wedding rings.
Pink shades are quite rare in jewelry stores. This delicate color is achieved by mixing copper and other metals in certain proportions. Very little copper is added in this case.
It is impossible to determine the assay or the number of carats by the color of the product. The same assay may appear in different shades. It is the gold (yellow) color that is the most common and customary color for jewelry.
Is it worth buying gold now?
The unequivocal answer to this question is yes, definitely worth it. This precious, noble metal will never lose its value and practicality. It is highly valued by the international banks all over the world and the value of one gram of pure product sometimes reaches impressive amounts.
There is no single answer to how much gold is worth. Its price on the world market often fluctuates depending on many economic factors: the dollar exchange rate, political situations and changes on the stock exchange. So it is impossible to evaluate the 79th element of the Mendeleev's table once and for all. But the demand for men's and women's gold jewelry has always been and still is high regardless of its estimation by the world's banks.
