When gold is one of the highest price element, owning one issomehow a luxury. Gold is considered as the most sought-after precious metal in the jewelry industry. Even cut diamonds needed gold to make valuable jewelry pieces.
Properties of gold which makes it perfect for jewelry making:
- Golds are malleable and ductile (soft).It can be hammered into very thin sheets and can be bended to form beautiful jewels.
- Gold is a very dense metal. Thus, an ounce or a single carat can command a high price in the market.
- Gold never oxidizes with air or water.
- Pure gold is yellow and of high luster.Thus, a perfect metal used as body ornaments.
- Because gold is soft, an alloy can be combined to gold to maintain its hardness.Copper is usually the base metal usually alloyed to gold.
- 24k gold is the pure gold.
- Gold alloys in jewelries typically ranging from 22k ,21k, 18k,or 10k, measures the based metals used to form the jewelries.
- Gold is usually resistant to most acids, except aqua regia (a highly corrosive acid according to Wikipedia)
- In white gold alloys, palladium or nickel is commonly used to form the whiteness or silvery color of the jewels. Palladium are more expensive thus, nickel is widely used. But, nickel is a toxic element.
How to Care for Gold Jewelries
- Golds are soft. Store each jewelry separately in a non-moist cloth or velvety storage to avoid scratches.
- Remove all jewelries before sleeping, as thin film bed lints and threadlike fabrics can be trapped into the jewels and this will soon trapped dust, lessening the luster of the gold.
- In cleaning, I can recommend 3 methods (I avoid soap method as soaps can be trapped into intricate jewel designs and thus, accumulate uninvited dust that will dull the color of the jewels.)
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1. Using toothpaste. Dab small amount of toothpaste into a small bristle toothbrush and gently rub onto the jewelry. Rinse with water. Place in a dry cloth and let the cloth absorb the moisture. (Highly recommended)
2. Using vinegar: though acid, vinegar has a cleaning effect on most materials, also with gold. Procedure same as in number 1.
3. Using lime/lemon. Just like vinegar, sour fruits have the ability to clean. Thus soaking the gold jewels in water and fruit solution will do the cleaning and provide much luster into golds. Procedure is same as in number 1.
Hope you keep these tips in caring for your gold jewelries. This will ensure your jewels stays with you for longer periods of time. Remember that jewelries can be given as gifts especially to family members. It’s value will never decrease as time goes by. The gold jewelries you have bought some 3 or 5 years ago may command triple the original price now.