Gold is the world’s most ancient and coveted metal. It has always represented wealth and power. The earliest known gold jewelry came from the Sumer civilization around 3000 BC, in an area that we now know as southern Iraq. Other ancient masterpieces were created across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and South America. Gold’s beautiful color and malleability inspired craftsmen to create jewelry by developing techniques like chain-making, alloying, pounding, etc.
Pure Gold and Gold Alloys
Pure gold is generally considered too soft to make into everyday jewelry. It bends, scratches, and wears away with friction. Even in ancient times, gold was frequently alloyed with other metals to keep its shining glow but with added strength, durability, and a range of colors. White gold’s look is achieved by alloying gold with nickel, silver, or palladium. Rose gold is created by alloying gold with copper. Most yellow gold contains differing amounts of nickel, copper, and zinc.
Gold Purity
The purity of gold (or percentage of pure gold in an alloy) is measured in karats (kt). Karat should not to be confused with a “carat” (ct), the unit of weight for diamonds. Here’s a quick chart to break down the conversion: Karat = Gold % 24 karat 100% gold 18 karat 75% gold 14 karat 58.3% gold 10 karat 41.6% gold Ten karat gold is the lowest amount jewelers in the United States can call real gold. Most popular in the West are 14 or 18 karat gold, which is lustrous and workable but strong enough to wear every day. When gold is weighed, it is generally measured in grams (g) or ounces (oz). All real gold jewelry must have its karat clearly stamped on it.
Gold Sources
Gold is a mined metal, and sources have been found on literally every continent. But, until the California rush of 1848 gold was an extremely rare metal. Russian output accounted for 30-35 tons of world total gold of 75 tons by 1847. Now, the most productive gold mines are in South America, Africa, North America, and Australia.
Gold Uses
Today, gold is used for everything from high tech semiconductors to gold crowns for teeth — and it is still one of the most desired jewelry metals everywhere. Right now, the world’s mined gold equals more than 125,000 tons — of that amount, 90% was mined after the California gold rush. What’s even more incredible is that all the gold ever mined would form a cube only 19 meters per side.