Gold Buyers Guide
Gold, first discovered in ancient times, has long been considered as one of the most precious metals on earth and, due to its rarity and beauty, has symbolised wealth and power. It has been used to create jewellery and ornaments for over 6000 years and today gold is still used to make precious jewellery pieces.
The word gold is derived from the Indo-European word for ‘yellow’ most obviously because of the yellow colouration of pure gold. Other metals, however, can be combined with gold to create various colours such as white gold or rose gold.
Rose gold is created by mixing pure gold with cooper which gives the gold the reddish colour. The more copper added the more red the gold will become. White gold on the other hand is created by mixing pure gold with metals such as silver or palladium and then the white may be enhanced with rhodium plating to give the gold a highly reflective white surface. However over time, the rhodium plating will wear off and the white gold will lose its brightness, which is natural particularly if it is worn on a regular basis. In order for the gold to regain its shine you may need to get it re-rhodium plated. At Pascoes we can arrange for your white gold jewellery to be re-rhodium plated so just visit or contact your nearest Pascoes store for details.
An alternative to white gold is platinum, a brilliant white coloured metal that is denser than gold and more valuable due in part to its rarity and ability to retain its white lustre without fading or tarnishing. Although we do not stock platinum jewellery we can arrange for certain styles to be created in platinum by our manufacturers. See your local Pascoes store for more information.
Just as gold comes in various colours it also comes in different purities. Gold is measured in caratage (Carat/ct) which is the term used to describe how pure the gold metal is –
Be careful not to confuse this with diamond carats. Pure gold (100% gold) is 24 carats and is very soft therefore generally unsuitable to create jewellery. As a result other metals are added to pure gold to create a gold alloy thus strengthening it. The carat indicates how many parts, out of 24 parts, in the gold alloy are gold. For example an 18ct gold chain is 18/24 parts pure gold and 6/24 parts other metal. The more alternative metals added to pure gold the lower the carat. At Pascoes the majority of jewellery is available in 9ct gold however we also stock jewellery set in 18ct gold.
Visit your nearest Pascoes store to view our extensive range of gold jewellery.
Return to the Buyers Guide.
