Uses of gold
According to historical information, gold is the pioneer metal with which humanity interacted. Acquaintance with him took place 2-3 thousand years ago, as evidenced by the jewelry found at the excavations. There are also references to this precious metal in the Iliad and the Bible. Gold also aroused great curiosity among alchemists, who often sought ways to transform metals into precious metals, which were credited with great power.
In the modern world, gold has several functions:
- in commodity production it performs the function of money;
- in art it is used for jewelry work;
- in medicine it is used as components of some drugs;
- also used in the chemical industry and electrical equipment.
750 gold – what does it mean?
It is worth noting that pure gold without additives simply does not exist; there is always some percentage of certain impurities present. The number of parts of pure metal contained in 1000 parts of the alloy is called fineness. There are 4 standard systems used in the world: spool, metric, lot and carat. The most popular are metric and carat.
In our country, the metric system is common, that is, the ratio of the number of grams of gold per kilogram of jewelry alloy. There are hallmarks from 375 to 999. 750 hallmark gold is most valued by lovers of expensive jewelry.
European countries and the United States have a carat system. The fineness in carats is the ratio of the number of shares of pure metal from 24 parts of the alloy. This system is intended exclusively for gold alloys.
What was the standard of gold in Soviet times?
In 1922, during the formation of the USSR, a gold sampling system developed back in 1798 was used. Then the calculation was based on the Russian pound, which included 96 spools.
The famous Soviet standard is 583 gold.
Since 1927, it has lost its meaning. The metric system was adopted. According to it, the sample shows the number of milligrams of noble metal in 1 gram of alloy per 1 kg. This calculation was borrowed from Europe.
The same calculation together with foreign countries made it possible for the Union to develop in the foreign market for precious metals.
To achieve this, the process of measuring gold purity for USSR jewelry was adjusted to generally accepted standards. The selection of samples was small. The country wanted to approve a single gold standard for everyone in the 583rd standard form.
Quality of gold products
Gold has a chemical ability: in its pure form it is not subject to oxidation and many other chemical influences. But when combined with other metals, these properties become different. It is generally accepted that gold alloys of purity 750 and higher are subject to little corrosion. It is worth noting that when producing an alloy, gold may be distributed unevenly, and then the area in which there is little or no gold may be corroded. The jewelry in this place will be dull.
Hallmark 583 in the modern world: how jewelers and pawnshops evaluate it
After several decades, 583, the old standard of gold, fell from the first place in the popularity of precious metals. Today, disputes arise less and less frequently compared to 585 and 583 samples. However, the price of 585 samples is several hundred rubles per gram higher than the cost of its competitor.
Foreign jewelers speak negatively about 583 samples. However, their negative attitude is not true. 583 standard gold in the USSR, with proper maintenance, does not lose its beauty, because it has:
- radiance that does not disappear for years;
- bulkiness and reliability, which avoids damage;
- corrosion resistance.
585 gold wedding ring
Italian gold
Many reputable jewelry stores offer products made from “Italian gold”. The name, as you might guess, comes from the country of origin of the jewelry. Jewelry of this type has a special type of processing. They are carefully polished, and visually the products seem to shine. In addition, the jewelry is distinguished by fine workmanship and a variety of ornaments.
When purchasing such a product, you should pay attention that scammers can pass off a product of lower quality as Italian 750 gold. Real Italian jewelry must have an appropriate certificate. The Russian eye is unfamiliar with the colors of Italian gold, which can have white and yellow shades.
Italy is a unique country. It occupies an honorable third place in the world in the production of jewelry with gold mining of no more than 100 kilograms per year. The rest of the material is purchased from South Africa. Thanks to the unique design, profits from the sale of jewelry bring considerable income to the Italian treasury. Buyers of Italian jewelry are Switzerland, the USA, China, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.
Shade of gold and purity - is there a connection?
Does the gold standard depend on the shade of the product? Does 585 gold have a red tint? All of these statements are incorrect because the color of gold largely depends on the impurities added to the alloy. Only a subtle shade of the product can be the fact of the presence of pure gold in the total mass of the jewelry product. The myth about the dependence of the shade of jewelry on the percentage of pure gold content became widespread thanks to the Soviet Union. At that time, products made from 750 gold were yellow, 375 were pink, and 585 were red, which was due to the traditions of the jewelry industry in the USSR.
White gold
18k white gold is an alloy of gold with nickel or palladium. Sometimes platinum may be present. The white gold alloy itself has a rather dull shine. To make it brighter, a thin rhodium plating is used, which, if the jewelry is worn frequently, must be renewed quite regularly.
The typical work technique used when making jewelry is granulation. Tiny granules are welded to a very thin gold plate, and with their help, a pattern is created on the product. This type of technology dates back a long time, as evidenced by historical and scientific excavations.
Currently, many lovers of precious jewelry have heard of such famous jewelry houses as BULGARI, DIMIANI, which use the granulation technique.
When purchasing gold products, you should pay attention not only to the price, but also to the availability of the necessary certificates and passports. It is worth purchasing products from trusted and well-known manufacturers in specialized stores.
What are the types of samples: carat and metric systems
There are four measurement systems in our world, but the most popular are the carat and metric systems.
The carat system dates back to ancient times when people began to measure the value and purity of precious products in carats. Pure metal without impurities has a value of 24 carats. How many grams of pure gold are there in 1 carat?
One carat of metal contains one twenty-fourth of the gold in the bulk of the alloy, which is reflected in the UK carat system, which is also used in the USA and European countries. An alloy of 14 carats is composed of 14 parts of pure gold and 10 parts of another metal, and jewelers in their work usually use compounds with a purity of 24, 14, 18, 10 or 9 carats.
In Russia, as part of the Soviet Union, in 1927, jewelers switched from the carat system to the metric system, in which the share of the precious substance in the alloy was calculated based on the number of grams of pure metal per kilogram of alloy. Thus, a 500-fine alloy contains 500 grams of pure aurum, and the other half of the mixture contains other metals. Nowadays, the Russian jewelry industry suggests that the gold standard in jewelry can be: 375, 500, 585, 750 and 958.
For some time, Soviet jewelers produced products from 583 markings, which in the Western system were classified as fourteen carats, although foreign standards were slightly higher. After the collapse of the USSR, the 583rd sample was replaced by the 585th and our products became equal to Western ones. Thus, the 585th hallmark is equal to fourteen carats of gold.
The 375 marking represents 38% pure metal. Copper and silver are used as impurities, and the surface of the products is yellow. But over time, iron sulfide appears on the surface of the product, after which it becomes dull.
The 500th sample contains 50% of the precious substance, and the rest is occupied by silver and copper.
The 585 marking is widely used in the Russian jewelry industry. The alloy contains 58.5% gold, and the rest is silver, copper and even palladium. This combination of materials gives the product maximum strength, hardness, and resistance to environmental influences.
However, the most optimal in the jewelry industry is 750 standard with 75% precious metal content in the alloy. Nickel, silver, platinum, copper and palladium are added to it. The compound can have different shades: from bright green to red. Due to its excellent hardness, strength and fairly easy processing, it is widely used in the jewelry industry, but is quite expensive.
The 958th standard is practically not used in jewelry, because the compound contains 95.8% gold. Such a high content of precious metal results in a soft surface of the product and a dull color, as well as a very high price, which, with inexpressive characteristics, makes such a product impractical.
And finally, the highest fineness level - 999, represents the precious element in its pure form, virtually without impurities. Nowadays, pure metal is almost never used for the production of products, because pure gold is very soft and easily deformed, and at the same time has the highest cost.
