Tour Details 
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| Click on an image below to see a Virtual TourPowered by Spins Unlimited USA |
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| San Francisco Gold Company | |
| Pier 39 P-4 San Francisco, California 94133 | |
| Details: The History of Gold Jewellery Over the years gold has had a place in society giving it the allure of wealth and power. The desire to own gold stems back to the beginning of time where it had a magical importance about it. Emperors and kings wore gold in various ways and used golden objects to show their wealth and position in society. Today, gold is seen more often in jewellery than the way the kings displayed it centuries ago. Men, women and children are seen everyday wearing rings, chains, bracelets and earrings. The way gold lasts is one of the main reasons it is continually worn. A great example of this is when the boy King Tutankhamun died in 1350 BC and was buried with a large amount of gold jewellery and artefacts. Today, 3000 years later, viewers in museums cannot believe what they are looking at was buried with Tut and remains as lustrous and as full of colour as it did the day it went underground. Mining for Gold Despite gold being plentiful, it is still said to be rare and often difficult to obtain. For example, when mining for gold, 2-3 tonnes of ore are required to produce one ounce of gold. gold is quite soft and one ounce can actually be beaten into a sheet as big as 9 square metres or can be as versatile as being drawn out into a wire 80 kilometres long; giving gold the characteristic of being so easy to work with by jewellers. All That Glitters If it glitters its gold, right? Not always the case, to be certain what you have is real gold always check the stamp. The stamp will give an indication what carat the gold is: 24ct, 18ct or 9ct. Twenty four carat gold is 100 per cent pure gold or 24 parts gold, 18 carat gold is 18 parts gold and 6 parts other metal and so on. Generally gold is alloyed with other metals like zinc, copper, nickel and palladium. Because these other ingredients are added, gold still remains real, however always check the stamp to be certain what you have is not plated gold or rolled gold, often used for costume jewellery. Qualities of Gold A benefit of adding other metals to gold's natural form is how much harder it becomes. Twenty-four carat gold is very soft and if a ring is worn everyday that is made of 24 carat, it will be easily damaged. Various colours of gold can also be produced by adding other metals. For example copper gives gold a pink appearance or the more common name "rose gold". Depending what material is added to gold a variety of colours will be produced including white, blue, green and even purple. Precious gold is everlasting thus why it is used to express love and happiness and why it is so commonly worn - it is an item that is sure to please the receiver. |
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| Last Tour Update: May 18, 2012 |
