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Gold Guide
Gold
The story of gold is as rich and complex as the metal itself.
Many unique properties have secured it a
central role in history and human development.
Gold has been prized by
people since the earliest times for making statues and icons and also for
jewellery to adorn their bodies. Intricately sculptured art objects and
adornment jewellery have been uncovered in the Sumerian royal Tombs in
southern Iraq and the tombs of Egyptian kings. Significant buildings and
religious temples and statues have been covered with thinly beaten sheets
of gold. Due to its rarity, gold has long been considered a symbol of the
wealth and power of its possessor.
Gold's
chemical symbol, Au, comes from the Latin word for gold, aurum.
It is a remarkable, rare metal, with an unparalleled combination of
chemical and physical properties.
It is also the only metal that forms no oxide film on its surface in
air at normal temperatures, meaning that it will never rust or tarnish.
 Gold
Facts
- Gold is so rare that the world pours more
steel in an hour than it has poured gold since the beginning of
recorded history
- Gold has been discovered on every continent
on earth
- Gold melts at 1064.43° Centigrade. It can conduct
both heat and electricity and it never rusts
- Due to its high
value, most gold discovered throughout history is still in circulation.
However, it is thought that 80% of the world’s gold is still in the
ground
- Seventy-five percent of all gold in circulation has
been extracted since 1910
- A medical study in France during the
early twentieth century suggests that gold is an effective treatment
for rheumatoid arthritis
- Gold is so pliable that it can be
made into sewing thread. An ounce of gold can be stretched over 50
miles
- Gold is chemically inert, which also explains why it
never rusts and does not cause skin irritation. If gold jewellery
irritates the skin, it is likely that the gold was mixed with some
other metal
Now with Gold Buying Centre at Thomas Gear Jewellers you can turn on your
old unwanted gold into
instant cash. Old gold jewellery, coins and any type
of scrap gold can be turned into money.
Gold prices are at an all time high
so there has never been a better time to replace unwanted gold jewellery
with money. Make use of your old gold bracelets, chains, earrings and rings
by selling unwanted gold for cash. With the Gold Buying Centre you can receive
money for gold you no longer wear.
White Gold
One common misperception that people
have about white gold or pink gold for that matter is that this metal is
found as it is: white gold. Not true. However, just because this metal is
combined with other elements to make it appear white does not diminish the
worth, value, elegance and class of white gold Jewellery. White gold was
created right after WWI; up until that time any Jewellery that was the
colour white was made with pure platinum or of course, silver. There was a
white jewellery craze during the late 1920’s and throughout the 1930’s. The
trend has continued to present times.
White gold is an alloy of gold and some white metals such as silver and
palladium. White gold can be 18ct, 14ct, 9ct or any carat. For example,
18ct yellow gold is made by mixing 75% gold (750 parts per thousand) with
25% (250 parts per thousand) other metals such as copper and zinc. 18ct
white gold is made by mixing 75% gold with 25% other metals such as silver
and palladium. So the amount of gold is the same but the alloy is
different.
Traditionally nickel was used in white gold, however,
nickel is no longer used in most white gold made today as nickel can cause
reactions with some people. We do not use nickel in our white gold
When white gold rings are new they are coated with another white metal
called Rhodium. Rhodium is a metal very similar to platinum and Rhodium
shares many of the properties of platinum including its white colour.
The rhodium plating is used to make the white gold look whiter. The
natural colour of white gold is actually a light grey colour. The Rhodium
is very white and very hard, but it does wear away eventually. To keep a
white gold ring looking its best it should be re-rhodium plated
approximately each 12 to 18 months.
Platinum
Platinum is the hardest of the
precious metals, it never tarnishes. Its intense lustre remains intact over
the years, and it is completely hypoallergenic. It is extremely dense, and
remarkably heavy, much more so than silver or gold. This property of
platinum enhances and ennobles the quality of the jewellery from which it
is created.
The ultimate stability of platinum over the years is unmatched. It does not
wear, and its extreme level of durability offers a profound guarantee of
strength and longevity. When a customer comes into our shop to have their
great grandmother's ring cleaned, invariably, the ring is made from
platinum.
Platinum
Facts
- Platinum has an extremely high melting temperature.
In its purest form it melts at 3214 degrees F, almost twice the temperature
needed to melt 14 carat gold
- All the platinum ever mined would
produce a cube 17 feet on each side, less than 5000 cubic feet
- It
takes up to 10 tons of ore to produce one ounce of platinum, more than
twice as much ore that is typically needed for an ounce of gold
-
Platinum is not susceptible to problems like stress corrosion or stress
cracking
- Annually, only about 133 tons of Platinum are mined,
compared to about 1,782 tons of Gold
- More than 90% of all Platinum
supplies come from South Africa and Russia. Virtually all of the platinum
mined in South Africa is committed to industrial contracts
-
Legendary jewellers such as Cartier, Faberge and Tiffany created their
timeless designs in Platinum
- The world's famous diamonds,
including the Hope, Jonker I and Koh-I-Noor, are secured by Platinum
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