Gold Jewelry
Gold is one of the world’s most precious metals. Gold jewelry is available in many styles of jewelry such as rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, anklets, as well as body jewelry.
Start building your gold jewelry collection by purchasing quality pieces that are classic styles that will be around forever such as a gold chain necklace and bracelet, simple gold hoop earrings or small gold post-style earrings. There are many looks that you can achieve by building off of these basic pieces. Simply by adding a slide to a gold chain necklace, or charms to a gold chain bracelet or pair of small hoop earrings, will give you a different, unique look without having to purchase a whole new piece of jewelry. The options are endless as well as the styles and price ranges.
When shopping for fine gold jewelry there are a few things to look for before you make your purchase.
Fine gold jewelry will be marked indicating if it is 18-karat gold (750 parts pure gold or 75%), or 14-karat gold (583 parts pure gold or 58%). The higher the number of karats, the more valuable the piece of jewelry. In the United States 10-karat gold is the lowest amount of gold that you can buy that can be marked as "gold jewelry". If you find jewelry containing less than 10 karats of gold and it is marked as "gold jewelry", this is illegal. Pure gold, or 24-karat gold, is very soft and, thus, is not used in its pure form to make jewelry. That is why gold is mixed with other metals to make it stronger, more durable to be worn as jewelry. Always check the piece of jewelry for the karat mark (k) on the back. If a karat mark is present, you should also see a manufacturer’s trademark. Having both assures you that the karat marking is accurate. The country from where the jewelry originated should also appear on the jewelry.
When gold is mixed with other metals it can be made a variety of colors as well. Gold jewelry can be found in white, yellow, rose, or even green colors.
One of the great things about gold is that you can take a piece of old gold jewelry that you no longer wear and have it melted down and used to create a new piece of jewelry that you or a jeweler designed. A unique idea for using an old piece of jewelry is melting down old wedding bands that belonged to family members who are no longer living, and having a special piece of jewelry made for children or grandchildren. A piece of jewelry that could be passed down as a family heirloom.
Gold jewelry is a great place to start when building your collection of fine jewelry.
