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Posts Tagged ‘gold’

Charms are little ornaments that people wear in conjunction with other kinds of big jewelry. People generally put on charms as pendants on chains or as hanging accessories on bracelets. Charms have now become a fashion statement in new ways.

Now charms are being used as jewelry products being pinned to dresses and collars of shirts, stuck on the antennas of cell phones, decorating napkin holders, wine glasses and even quilts. Charms usually come in numerous shapes, styles, characters and occasionally symbols and signs.

People have utilized charms since the ancient times especially because they believed in “evil forces”. They believed that jealous people had the capability to curse them and deprive them of their possessions or other great qualities in their lives. They put on the charms as an efficient technique for protection against the evil intentions of other people. They carried the belief that the charms contained extraordinary powers.

Although charms have lost the respect they once had as having unique powers, yet they are here to stay. They are still considered to bring good luck, but not as faithfully as before. But most of all, they’ve a prominent place in the fashion scene. They showcase their wearer’s likings and sense of style.

The valuable metal of gold has usually been in higher demand. Earlier, it was a way to show one’s wealth. Women all through out history have simply loved gold. They have been utilizing it to enhance their attractiveness.

With gold prices spiraling upwards, it’s critical to make sure that the jewelry you are considering purchasing is real, and made of solid gold. And this undertaking can be even more mysterious when inspecting white gold jewelry. Taking your gold jewelry to a local jewelry store is the most convenient way to know your gold is legit. Luckily, there are a few proven ways of checking the gold content of your jewelry yourself.

The first way of checking is by using acid. When a jeweler tests gold, they use very specific acids of certain strength, and the stronger the acid is, more likely it’s able to dissolve away at the more purer alloys of gold. Since you aren’t able to measure something that well, you can merely use nitric acid. First make a modest scratch on the jewelry with a file in an area won’t be too visible. Then using a dropper, place a couple drops of nitric acid. If the jewelry is simply plated, the base metal underneath will change color or bubble as the acid dissolves it . If it’s real gold , there should be no noticeable difference before or after it was scratched. For gold chains, it’s easier to test on the clasp at the end of the chain.

The second approach is by inspection . Simply hold it in your hand and feel the weight. If it feels heavy, there’s a good chance it’s gold or platinum. On the other hand, silver alloys weigh approximately 70% that of gold, so if it’s gold plated silver, it will be a noticeable difference. Tungsten is roughly the same weight of 14 karat gold , however tungsten is a darker gray metal.

Do you have a collection of pendants and other jewelry pieces? If so, learning how to care for them properly can really help you protect them so that they look great no matter how long you have had them. Here are a few tips that you can use to prevent damage and dirt from destroying your collection.

Dirt can damage your pieces faster than you may realize. Therefore, making sure they are clean and well protected is critical in order to keep them looking good and prevent them from wearing out. If you truly care about maintaining your pieces you should be willing to invest in a great box or case that will keep them organized and help prevent damage.

Silver pieces need to be kept in specially lined boxes or cases. They will help to prevent tarnishing from taking place. When a piece tarnishes, the surface gets very dark and may turn black if given enough time. The lining in a jewelry box will often keep this from happening. You may still need to clean them from time to time using a good silver cleaner and a soft cloth.

Gold pieces can become scratched. The softer and more pure the gold is, the easier it will be to damage the surface. Keep them separated so that they do not get mixed up since harder gold can actually scratch pieces made from softer metal.

Getting cash for gold in this tough economy is a reality for a lot of people these days. But the most important thing that you should do is to make sure that your gold jewelry is not fake. You don’t want to get embarrassed, right. I simply did not have time to parade all over the city trying to have my jewelry appraised. I had fallen on hard times so I needed to sell my gold jewelry for a little extra money. I needed to be really be sure that my jewelry was genuine so I could have some idea of how much it was worth.

Have you ever heard of the magnet test? You won’t have to run to the hardware store for this test.

The first test that you need to do is to try out the magnet test. This test is easy and here is how it works. First of all, precious metals like gold and silver are not attracted to magnets. Or another way to say it is they are not magnetic. But steel is magnetic. But be wary of this test. It will sometimes yield a false positive.

But where are you going to find a magnet for this test? Head to the kitchen. Why the kitchen, because you probably have some refrigerator magnets in there. This type of magnet should work great for most people. But if you have some of the cheap plastic type, they may not be strong enough.