Gold Jewelry Information

When buying gold jewelry, always look for the karat mark. All other things being equal, the higher the karat, the more expensive the jewelry is.

In the United States, 14-karat gold is 14/24 or 58.33% parts pure gold, is the most common degree of fineness.

10-kt gold is 10/24 or 41.66% pure gold. Nothing less than 10 karats can legally be marked or sold as gold jewelry in the U.S.

18-karat gold is 18/24 or 75% pure gold, and wedding bands of this fineness are marked 18k or 750.
Always look for the karat mark or "k" that appears on the back of the piece. By U.S. law, if a karat mark appears you should also see the manufacturer's trademark to assure you that the karat marking is accurate. The country of origin should also appear. In addition to the karat mark, every wedding ring should be stamped with a hallmark or trademark of its maker, and sometimes its country of origin. These designations assure you that you are buying genuine karat gold wedding ring. Heavier wedding rings contain more gold.

Gold is durable, sturdy, dependable, and makes an ideal setting for your precious diamond jewelry. However, to get a lifetime of enjoyment from your jewelry, be sure to keep it clean and safe.

Do not wear jewelry during rough work or when handling harsh chemicals. Store it in a box away from other pieces to preserve it from being scratched.

Finally, check the diamond settings periodically for any damage to the gold prongs or bezels.

If you see a loose prong, or if the setting looks out of line, bring it to a professional jeweler for repair at once.

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Gold the Element
(IPA: /_gold/) is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from the Latin aurum) and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal which, for many centuries, has been used as money, a store of value and in jewelery. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, underground "veins" and in alluvial deposits. It is one of the coinage metals. Gold is dense, soft, shiny and the most malleable and ductile of the known metals. Pure gold has an attractive bright yellow colour and is one of only two coloured metal elements, the other being copper. All other metals are silver or grey.

Gold forms the basis for a monetary standard used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The ISO currency code of gold bullion is XAU. Modern industrial uses include dentistry and electronics, where gold has traditionally found use because of its good resistance to oxidative corrosion.

Chemically, gold is a trivalent and univalent transition metal. Gold does not react with most chemicals, but is attacked by chlorine, fluorine, aqua regia and cyanide. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but does not react with it. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid, which will dissolve silver and base metals, and this is the basis of the gold refining technique known as "inquartation and parting". Nitric acid has long been used to confirm the presence of gold in items, and this is the origin of the colloquial term "acid test," referring to a gold standard test for genuine value.

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Characteristics
Gold is the most malleable and ductile metal; a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of one square meter, or an ounce into 300 square feet. Gold readily forms alloys with many other metals. These alloys can be produced to increase the hardness or to create exotic colors (see below). Native gold contains usually eight to ten percent silver, but often much more - alloys with a silver content over 20% are called electrum. As the amount of silver increases, the color becomes whiter and the specific gravity becomes lower.

Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity, and is not affected by air and most reagents. Heat, moisture, oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect on gold, making it well-suited for use in coins and jewelry; conversely, halogens will chemically alter gold, and aqua regia dissolves it by virtue of the elemental chlorine generated by this acid mixture.

Common oxidation states of gold include +1 (gold(I) or aurous compounds) and +3 (gold(III) or auric compounds). Gold ions in solution are readily reduced and precipitated out as gold metal by adding any other metal as the reducing agent. The added metal is oxidized and dissolves allowing the gold to be displaced from solution and be recovered as a solid precipitate.

Recent research undertaken by Sir Frank Reith of the Australian National University shows that microbes play an important role in forming gold deposits, transporting and precipitating gold to form grains and nuggets that collect in alluvial deposits.

High quality pure metallic gold is tasteless, in keeping with its resistance to corrosion (it is metal ions which confer taste to metals).

In addition, gold is very dense, a cubic meter weighing 19300 kg. By comparison, the density of lead is 11340 kg/m3, and the densest element, Iridium, is 22650 kg/m3.

Toxicity
Generally, gold is non-toxic if consumed, and is used as food decoration in the form of gold leaf. However, consumption and thereby accumulation in body of large amount of gold (or gold compounds) is still toxic and the symptoms are similar to those of heavy metal poisoning.
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