Fascinating Gold Jewelry

Gold has been used as both a monetary and a fine jewelry metal since the dawn of civilization. A relatively soft metal, gold is almost always mixed with various metal alloys to give it strength, as well as better value for money. Gold used in jewelry making ranges from 9 karat, with 37.5% pure gold, all the way to 22 karat, containing 91.6% pure gold. Gold bullion, of 100% pure gold is almost never used in modern jewelry making as it is simply much too soft. While ancient jewelry may have had a higher percentage of pure gold in its make-up, modern commercially made gold jewelry usually ranges from 9 to 18 carat, depending of the type of jewelry and its price. Most commercially made jewelry in both the USA and in Israel is 14 karat, with 58% being pure gold and the remaining 42% a mixture of alloys including copper, zinc, nickel, or palladium.

Gold jewelry ranges in various colors from 'red' gold, with a high percentage of copper alloy; to 'white' gold with metals such as nickel and palladium to give it a distinctive 'white' metal color resembling platinum. Gold with a higher percentage of pure bullion is less likely to change color; which explains why antique gold jewelry and gold coins found in ancient ship wrecks still have that golden glitter; while silver jewelry and coins are often fused together and so dark with tarnish and corrosion that it is very difficult, it not impossible to clean them.

Many people, particularly in Mediterranean and Asian countries still consider gold jewelry to be a symbol of wealth and men often buy their wives and daughters gold jewelry as symbols of wealth. In some countries, the amount of gold jewelry a young woman has when she marries is considered as a measurement of the dowry or "mohar" that is traditionally given to the bride's parents by the groom.

The price of gold jewelry is based on a number of factors, including the price of gold bullion at the time of purchase, as well as the workmanship that goes into the manufacturing. Hand crafted gold jewelry by well known goldsmiths is usually worth much more than commercial or machine made jewelry.

In addition to gold jewelry, there is also what is known as gold filled or gold plated jewelry, both of which are usually referred to as accessory or fashion jewelry. Gold filled jewelry, often found in watches, refers to a weight ratio of 1/20 pure gold to the total metal content. Gold plating refers to an alloy mixture with an electronically plated gold coating, usually no more than 100 millionth of an inch. Many gold watches and watchbands have a gold filled metal content, giving them an appearance of higher priced gold percentage at a more reasonable price.

Despite the fluctuating price of the precious metal that goes into the making of gold jewelry (now hovering at the $600 per ounce level) gold jewelry continues to be very popular the world over, especially as a symbol of love for people getting married.