Long before the American Dollar, the Indian Rupee, or the British Pound came along there was another measure of currency that spanned the globe. Do you know what it was? It was gold. In fact, in many areas of the world it is still used as a form of currency today. Both rare and very heavy, it has been used as a status symbol for both merchants and kings. In this article we will be exploring the world of gold. We hope you enjoy this little journey into the wonderful world of this precious metal.
As one of the world’s most precious and valuable metals, gold sets itself apart from all the rest. It is so soft and malleable that a mere ounce of this metal can be stretched into a long wire that stretches 5 miles in length. If you like, you can pound this same ounce so thin that it will produce a sheet that can cover over 100 square feet. It will not corrode or rust, so it can last indefinitely.
Gold is all around us. It can be found in our rivers and seas, in the earth’s crust beneath our feet and in our plants as well. It is very expensive and difficult to extract, and this is why it is so pricey. It takes about 2.5 to 3 tons of gold ore to produce a mere ounce of pure gold…what a percentage!
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.
So, what are these various types of jewelry you ask? How about: (1) Gold jewelry, (2) Rose gold jewelry, (3) Wholesale gold jewelry, (4) White gold jewelry, (5) Gold plated jewelry, (6) Gold body jewelry, (7) 18k gold jewelry, (8) Gold charm jewelry, (9) 24k gold jewelry, (10) 14k gold jewelry, (11) Gold horse jewelry, (12) 22k gold jewelry, (13) Indian gold jewelry, (14) Plus other beautiful 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.
Did you enjoy this little journey into the world of gold? We hope so. If you would like to learn more we would love to have you visit our blog. We will go into more details on this subject, heart jewelry, and just jewelry in general. Welcome…
If you want to find out more about heart jewelry or open heart jewelry, then visit Betsy Johnson’s blogs.
