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LEARN ABOUT GOLD

by Enya Quinn February 09, 2021

Throughout the centuries gold has been regarded as a naturally beautiful precious metal that resembles the colour of our bright sun. Its admiral rich yellow colour is reflective, giving it that brilliant shine we love and enjoy adorning ourselves with. Gold wedding rings will forever be popular, along with gold earrings, pendants, and diamond engagement rings. But what makes gold so precious? Well, let’s find out...

Gold is a malleable material, meaning it’s easy to work with and allows for beautiful, intricate, and delicate designs to be crafted. Just like our ladies’ gold necklaces.
It’s noble, meaning it doesn’t rust or corrode when in contact with water or oxygen and most acid won’t damage it. Leave your gold stud earrings on in the shower worry free!
Pure gold is heavy and dense and it’s also ductile. This means a small amount of gold can be drawn out to a great length.
It’s a great energy conductor and is used in the electronics industry, surgery, and acupuncture.
We know it’s not magnetic thanks to the hit TV show Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 1 -Live Free or Die when Walter mentions he needn't remove his gold wedding ring before they turn on the strong magnet. How cool!

Due to pure gold being soft it is not very durable and can easily scratch when made into jewellery. This means gold needs to be alloyed (mixed) with other stronger metals for use in jewellery. These alloyed metals are mostly copper and zinc. Alloying gold allows for different gold purities. These purities are the following:

24ct has 100% pure gold

18ct has 75% pure gold

14ct has 58.3% pure gold

9ct has 37.5% pure gold

You may find purities such as 10ct, 15ct, 21ct, and 22ct but they’re not commonly used here in Ireland. Alloying gold with certain metals determines the colour too. Rose gold has added copper to give it its rosey-red colour and white gold has more zinc and other whiter metals to make white. There’s a colour of gold to suit every skin tone!

Here are the top picks from Gold jewellery available at Gear Jewellers: