Diamonds are extremely expensive stones used as jewelry by royalties and rich people.  Diamonds are judged based on 4 Cs – Color, Carat, Clarity and Cut.

Natural colored diamonds, especially the clear and near colorless ones, are very expensive.  To make the beauty of diamonds reach a wider market, jewelers are marketing colored diamonds which are still visually appealing but a lot cheaper in price.

Gemologists have found a way to manipulate diamonds of less quality to alter their colors to create fancy diamonds for sale.  This color manipulation process can be achieved by a process called irradiation – a treatment with very high heat to alter colors. Many natural diamonds that are of inferior quality due to blemished color are turned into fancy colored diamonds of vivid yellows, blues, purples, greens, reds and other colors.

When the color of the treated diamonds becomes more intense than the Z grading of diamond, they become categorized into fancy colored diamonds.  Some colored diamonds’ prices can even surpass that of natural near colorless diamonds especially if the color intensity is very and the color output is rare.

In nature, there are several naturally formed colored diamonds.  Most of these are very rare while some are one of a kind.

Fancy Yellow Diamonds get their color from nitrogen impurities.  One of the largest fancy yellow diamonds is the Tiffany Diamond which was founding in South Africa.  The Tiffany Diamond weighed 287.42 carats when it was found in 1878.

Pink Diamonds are rare and they owe their color to the irregular patterns which cause very tiny imperfections within the structure.  There is only one source of rare pink diamonds which is the Argyle Mine in Australia.

Chameleon Diamonds are also very rare.  They can change hue from grayish blue or olive green to yellowish green depending on the lighting conditions.  When exposed to heat up to 250º C), the color can change to yellowish green or when exposed to direct sunlight, olive green.  These changes are temporary.

Green diamonds are mostly found in South Central Africa.  These diamonds have been exposed to gamma and neutron radiation for millions of years to get their hue.  The Ocean Green Diamond and the Dresden Green Diamond have pure and intense hues.

The Red Diamond is the rarest kind among the colored diamonds. The first discovered Red Diamond is the 1 carat Halpen Red found in the 18th century.  Around the world today, there are only fewer than 20 known natural red diamond specimens. The most famous Red Diamond is the Hancock Red Diamond found in Brazil which weighed only 0.95 carats.  It was old for £926,000 at an auction.  Other famous Red Diamonds are Moussaieff Diamond which weighed 13.90 carats and De Young which weighed 5.03 carats.  Red Diamonds in the market today may reach up to £1 million per carat.

Brown diamonds are the cheapest among the colored diamonds.  They are very popular nowadays because more people are buying them due to their affordability.

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As other precious metals, gold is measured by troy weight and by grams. And when it is alloyed with supplementary metals the term carat or karat is used to specify the amount of gold present, with 24 carats being pure gold and lower ratings being proportionally less. The purity of a gold bar can also be written as a decimal figure ranging from 0 to 1, known as the millesimal fineness, such as 0.995.

Carat and gold price

Carat is a measure of the purity of gold and platinum alloys. One carat is one twenty-fourth purity by its weight. Thus 24-carat gold is pure gold (99.99%); 12-carat gold is 50% purity, et cetera. In the United States and Canada, the word karat is typically used for the measure of purity, while carat is referring to the measure of mass.

The carat system is gradually more being complemented or superseded by the millesimal fineness system where the purity of precious metals is denoted by parts per thousand of pure metal in the alloy.

The most frequent carats used for gold in bullion, jewellery making and goldsmith are:

24 carat (millesimal fineness 999), 22 carat (millesimal fineness 916), 20 carat (millesimal fineness 833), 18 carat (millesimal fineness 750), 16 carat (millesimal fineness 625), 14 carat (millesimal fineness 585), 10 carat (millesimal fineness 417) and 9 carat (millesimal fineness 375).

The open market gold price

The gold prices is determined on the open market, but a procedure recognized as the Gold Fixing in London, originating in 1919; provide a twice-daily benchmark figure to the industry.

The historically gold price

Historically gold was used to back currency in an economic system recognized as the gold standard a certain weight of gold was given the name of a unit of currency. For a long period, the United States government set the value of the US pound so that one troy ounce was equivalent to £20.67 (£664.56kg), but in 1934 the pound was revalued to £35.00 per troy ounce (£1125.27kg). And by 1961 it was becoming harder to uphold this price, and a pool of US and European banks agreed on manipulating the market to stop further currency devaluation against increased gold demand.

On 17 March 1968, economic conditions caused the collapse of the gold pool, and a two-tiered pricing scheme was established and gold was still used to settle international accounts at the old £35.00 per troy ounce (£1.13g) but the price of gold on the private market was allowed to rise and fall; this two-tiered pricing system was discarded in 1975 when the price of gold was left to find its free-market level. Central banks still hold historical gold reserves as a store of value even though the level has generally been declining. The biggest gold depository in the world is that of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

Ever since 1968 the price of gold on the open market has ranged widely, with a record high £850oz (£27,300kg) on 21 January 1980, to a low £252.90oz (£8,131kg) on 21 June 1999 (London Fixing). On 26 April 2006 the London gold fixing was £635.50oz.

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There is a lot of very popular jewellery out there today. One of the most popular is the white gold jewelry. However, what makes this kind of jewelry so popular? On top of that, what makes this gold turn white? These are all questions that we are going to answer, so if you have ever wonder this kind of information about white gold, then just keep on reading!

First of all, white gold is still gold. However, it is an alloy of gold that has been mixed with at least one other metal. Normally the two most commonly used white metals that get added to it are nickel and palladium. Just like the yellow gold that we have come to know and love, the white gold’s purity is, of course, given to us in carats. This lets you know how much of it is actually gold and how much of it has been mixed with another metal. One thing to keep in mind is that you can never have a full gold ring. That is because gold by itself is way too soft. It has to be mixed with another metal to make it stronger. If you did not mix it, you would be able to simply press on it and bend it.

Whenever you are dealing with white gold jewelry, there are a few different purposes it can be used for. First of all, when white gold is made with nickel, it’s a lot stronger than other white gold jewellery. This means that it is perfect for making things like rings and pins. However, when it is mixed with palladium, it becomes a lot softer and more workable. This makes it perfect to be used on gemstone jewelry. Most of the time, the highest carat white gold you are going to find is 18k. As said before, white gold is usually mixed with one or more metals, so they will often use palladium or nickel, but things like silver and copper get added in as well. In the really high class white gold rings, you can find things like platinum being used.

One more thing to keep in mind about white gold is that it does not retain it’s shine quite like other metals do, thus, a lot of times white gold has to be coated with rhodium. This gives it a very nice shine, but sometimes it has been known to rub off over time. Although it is unlikely, it does happen. Without the coating of this rhodium, very few people would like the dull look of white gold.

So why do people like the white gold look so much nowadays? When did all the jewelry start getting made out of white gold? This really came about as the rappers got into the white gold look. Although some people still really like the yellow gold look, it is a little bit too traditional for some people. That is why they go with the very modern looking white gold. Of course, we sometimes see these fads change back and forth, so no one knows when yellow gold will come back into style.

Kelly Hunter owns and operates http://www.bestwhitegoldjewellery.com and writes about White Gold Jewellery

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Gold jewellery has been prized for literally thousands of years for its beauty, being used both to show enormous wealth and as an expression of love and affection. You probably know that gold goes back to the time of the Pharaohs, who wore it all over their bodies, and were buried with it upon their death.

Today, gold jewellery is everywhere. It’s most commonly seen as rings on the fingers of married or engaged people, or as earrings, but many people also put jewellery in their nose, tongue or belly button, among other places. Hip hop culture has led to a resurgence in large pieces of gold jewellery being worn as a deliberate show of wealth, as ‘bling’, and this fashion has spread to many of the world’s young people.

When you buy gold jewellery, there are two important things to consider: the first is what the piece itself actually looks like (the quality of the jewellery itself), and the second is the purity of the gold, measured in carats. Although many people can be snobbish about low-carat gold, it is often what you do with it that counts, with a well-made piece from lower-quality gold actually being much more pleasing than a badly-made piece from expensive gold, and cheaper to boot.

Of course, if you’re not into gold, there are plenty of alternatives. Silver is gaining in popularity all the time, as a way to stand out from the crowd and counter the perception of some that gold is tacky, and platinum is also a well-regarded metal for jewellery-making. It’s possible to make just about anything into nice jewellery given time and skill, with some interesting materials to try being glass, shells and even wood – you can even make your own jewellery out of inexpensive beads and string, if you’re looking for something unique.

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Gold has been highly cherished and loved since the primordial times. Gold has been recognised as the precious form of true and valuable fashion material or commodity. Gold is never found as an outdated or redundant object of fashion. Gold is always considered safe as an object of fashion and as a mean to secure your investment. This precious metal does not leave any harmful impact on your skin. Gold has the ability to melt and turn into any form or shape.

In the beginning, gold was the fashion of the rich people only, but the revolutionary industrial age made the middle class people get their hands on this yellow metal too. Previously, heavy ornaments were the order of the day, and the heavier the ornament was, the more impressive it used to be considered in those olden times. In the era of today, ladies prefer to wear delicate jewellery. Gold projects the personality of women as soft, humble and delicate as well. It has become an essential part of marriage in most of the societies around the world.

The heavy classical gold ornaments had dual effect. They served as prestigious fashion objects, and also as a secured means of investment. In recent times, the price of gold has risen sharply, and it has created a certain gap between the people who can afford to buy this highly precious metal and the ones who cannot think of buying it. Even today, gold is considered to be a safe object of investment for rich people. There is a big need to understand the types and varieties of gold.

The main difference is found out by the means of cartages. It is the purity level of gold; 24 carat is considered to be the purest form of gold. Since 24 carat gold is softer and gets scratched easily, therefore, we do not find jewellery in 24 carats usually. In olden times, rich people used to have tableware and wine glasses of 24 carats to satisfy their urge to impress their guests with their riches. After that trend, it was turned into fashion and was adopted by even middle class people. They used the tableware, which was very less in cartages; around 9 carat of gold was used to make tableware. The reason is that it was cheaper in this cartage and looked almost similar to the pure form of gold. Gold is mixed with other metals like copper or silver. This mixture of other metals makes the pure gold lose its natural colour too.

Every civilization has shown its cultural looks in the designing of the ornaments. Some all-time classic gold ornaments are “solid gold earrings”. This contains solid semi circle wire hoop with freely moving pendant and ring and a hook fastener. Gold ring is a hoop made from a flat gold strip with overlapping ends, widening towards the shoulders, forming a rectangular plate. Gold bracelet is a solid round hoop with rectangular cross section, spirally twisted, hammered flat at one end with a round opening and the other end tapered, forming a hook.

Learn how to buy gold in the times of recession by taking help of professionals.

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Gold jewellery has been prized for literally thousands of years for its beauty, being used both to show enormous wealth and as an expression of love and affection. You probably know that gold goes back to the time of the Pharaohs, who wore it all over their bodies, and were buried with it upon their death.

Today, gold jewellery is everywhere. It’s most commonly seen as rings on the fingers of married or engaged people, or as earrings, but many people also put jewellery in their nose, tongue or belly button, among other places. Hip hop culture has led to a resurgence in large pieces of gold jewellery being worn as a deliberate show of wealth, as ‘bling’, and this fashion has spread to many of the world’s young people.

When you buy gold jewellery, there are two important things to consider: the first is what the piece itself actually looks like (the quality of the jewellery itself), and the second is the purity of the gold, measured in carats. Although many people can be snobbish about low-carat gold, it is often what you do with it that counts, with a well-made piece from lower-quality gold actually being much more pleasing than a badly-made piece from expensive gold, and cheaper to boot.

Of course, if you’re not into gold, there are plenty of alternatives. Silver is gaining in popularity all the time, as a way to stand out from the crowd and counter the perception of some that gold is tacky, and platinum is also a well-regarded metal for jewellery-making. It’s possible to make just about anything into nice jewellery given time and skill, with some interesting materials to try being glass, shells and even wood – you can even make your own jewellery out of inexpensive beads and string, if you’re looking for something unique.

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