Gold is the most used material ever for the creation of jewels. Today it enjoys exceptional popularity, among all metals it is the most valuable, as it is the one with the highest market prices and its presence is still rare in nature. This precious and sparkling element was discovered in 3000 years BC. C., however it seems that the first gold nuggets were already mined in the Transylvanian Alps in 6000 BC. C.
Its name derives from the Latin word “aurum” and its symbol in the periodic table is “Au”.
Alongside its use in the creation of precious items (with relative reference to the status-symbol, as gold is associated with wealth and high social status), gold has always been used and accepted as a means of payment, as an investment or even a commodity exchange. Of all the precious metals, gold is the one with the most suitable characteristics to be molded. In this regard, even in its pure state it maintains its typical splendor and luster, never dulls and is resistant to corrosion. Since pure gold is even too light for decorative use, it is often melted with other alloying metals in order to enhance its strength. To indicate the degree of purity of gold, the international symbol “K” is generally used, or the abbreviation of the term “Karat” – carat (while the unit of measurement of the specific weight of precious stones – carat – is abbreviated to symbol “ct”).
The relative gold title is then established by reporting the value on a mathematical basis, a scale that relates a total of 24 metal parts according to which the symbol 24 K is used to indicate pure gold.
The information generally refers to thousandths. For jewels we refer to the following degree of purity:
- 91.6% pure gold (= 22 K: 22 gold components and 2 alloy components)
- 75% pure Gold (= 18 K: 18 gold components and 6 alloy components)
- 58.5% pure gold (= 14 K: 14 gold components and 10 alloy components)
- 41.7% pure gold (= 10 K: 10 gold components and 14 alloy components)
- 37.5% pure gold (= 9 K: 9 gold components and 15 alloy components)
Rose gold is also known as Russian-gold, as this is the most popular color in Russia since the beginning of the 19th century. It is alloyed with copper and the higher the copper component, the more intense the color.
