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How To Buy and Look After Your Gold Jewelry

By: Bob Gammit

Gold is a very malleable metal. It is hardened and made easier to work with by adding different metals with gold. Pure gold is 24K and the greater the Karat count the purer the gold is and the softer it becomes also. Gold jewellery has been known to last a long time and it is extremely resistant to corrosion and tarnish, the only flaw that Gold has is the softness which means it has to be stored correctly to avoid any scratches and dents to the material.

Purchasing gold should be done correctly and with the right retailers. There are a lot of scammers out there that will sell gold for more than it is actually worth with a dishonest Karat count.

It is advised to keep gold away from harder substances like diamonds and other gemstones because these materials can easily scratch the soft surface of gold if they come into contact with each other. If at all possible, gold jewellery like pearls should be stored separately and individually so that it does not even come into contact with other much harder jewellery that may harm it in one way or another.

A common substance that can seriously damage gold jewellery is that of chlorine compound. It is not advised to wear gold jewellery when using cleaning materials with chlorine or with highly chlorinated water such as in pools and Jacuzzis. Chlorine has been known to inevitably weaken gold and make it prone to breakage and cracks.

Perfume, lotions and oils can also cause gold to lose some of its shine and that is why it is often advised to wear as little perfume and lotion on areas that you know you will be wearing your Gold jewellery on. If this is unavoidable then it is best to put on perfume and lotion before putting on your gold jewellery. Grease and also oil marks are often what plague gold jewellery the most. This is simply managed by cleaning gold jewellery with a little bit of rubbing alcohol to bring back its luster.

When purchasing gold jewellery it is advised to pay special attention to the Karat count of the gold jewellery you are interested in. Remember that pure gold is 24K and the rest ranging down from it are alloys with the lowest being only 10K. There are also lower karat counts for gold but these are no longer considered as 'gold' in most countries. Karat should not be mistaken with Carat. Carat is a unit that is used with gemstones and mostly attributed to diamonds.

Gold very rarely has any problems with any allergies because it is non-reactive to most chemicals. People that are allergic to gold jewellery are often probably allergic to the metal compounds that have been added to it to make it harder and create some colour. By the way, adding other metals manage to change the colour of gold which is a very standard practice.

Some other forms of gold jewellery are gold filled and gold plated jewellery. Gold Filled Jewellery usually have an indicator as to just how much of the jewellery weight can be attributed to the gold. Gold plated jewellery on the other hand has only a very thin layer of gold (in the microns) on the surface and can very easily lose its gold colour over time.

Article Source: http://www.articlepantry.com

The author has collected more gold information and runs Milton Gems where you can put this knowledge to good use and browse his gold jewelry especially the gold pendants.

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