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White Diamonds
White diamonds are produced by mines all over the world in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.The white diamonds recovered from the Argyle mine are particularly brilliant and of high quality.
Pink Diamonds
The pink diamond is the world's most rare and valuable diamond.The Argyle mine is the world's foremost source of unrivalled intense pink diamonds, producing 95% of the world's supply. However, an extremely small proportion of Argyle Diamonds production is Pink colour, in fact less than one tenth of 1% is classified Pink.
Champagne Diamonds
Champagne diamonds are naturally coloured diamonds that are produced in a wide range of colours from light straw to rich cognac.
The 4C's of colour, cut, clarity and carat weight apply to coloured diamonds just as they do to colourless diamonds except the intensity of colour, not lack of it, plays a greater part in the valuation.
Yellow Diamonds
Fancy yellow diamonds come in a broad range of shades ranging from light yellow to a rich canary colour.
A limited quantity of fancy yellow diamonds is recovered from the Argyle mine.
Blue Diamonds
Fancy blue diamonds are available in a wide range of shades, from the blue of the sky to a more "steely" colour than sapphire.
Limited quantities of fancy blue diamonds are recovered from the Argyle mine.
Green Diamonds
A limited quantity of fancy green diamonds is recovered from the Argyle mine.
Relative to today's world economic conditions, it is imperative to remember that F.D.R.'s stated purpose for dramatically increasing the value of gold was to boost commodity prices (especially farm products) and create more employment for the millions who were suffering the devastating effects of the Great Depression.
In December 1971 representatives of the ten most industrialized nations met in Washington D.C. It was their express purpose to take whatever measures in order to improve international economic conditions. The now famous Smithsonian Agreement accorded an immediate hike in the value of gold from $35 to $38 per ounce. President Richard Nixon hailed it as "the most significant monetary agreement in the history of the world." Unfortunately, it resulted in a measure too little and too late. International economic conditions continued to deteriorate, forcing the U.S. Government in 1973 to devalue the dollar a second time by raising the official price of gold to $42.22 per ounce. Finally, all international currencies were allowed to "float" freely against gold. By June of that year the London Gold Fixing had risen to an unprecedented $120 per ounce. Exploding demand during the following months set the stage for the creation of gold futures trading on the COMEX in January 1975.
A worldwide feeding frenzy for gold cannonballed its price to an all-time high of $850 per ounce on January 21, 1980. Obviously, speculative excess had carried too far. Since that date the price of gold has been in a downtrend for more than 13 years. Naturally, there have been periods of respite, when prices rebounded slightly. However, on balance the long-term bear market remained intact until April 23, 1993. On that date the June 1993 COMEX Gold futures contract closed at $347.50 - which, in our opinion, heralded a reversal of the 13 year downtrend, and thus the return of Virgil's echo: "Auri Sacra Fames"
Archaeological digs suggest the use of Gold began in the Middle East where the first known civilizations began. The oldest pieces of gold jewelry Egyptian jewelry were found in the tomb of Queen Zer and that of Queen Pu-abi of Ur in Sumeria and are the oldest examples found of any kind of jewelry in a find from the third millennium BC. Over the centuries, most of the Egyptian tombs were raided, but the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered undisturbed by modern archaeologists. Inside the largest collection of gold and jewelry in the world was found and included a gold coffin whose quality showed the advanced state of Egyptian craftsmanship and goldworking (second millennium BC).
The Persian Empire, in what is now Iran, made frequent use of Gold in artwork as part of the religion of Zoroastrianism. Persian goldwork is most famous for its animal art, which was modified after the Arabs conquered the area in the 7th century AD.
When Rome began to flourish, the city attracted talented Gold artisans who created gold jewelry of wide variety. The use of gold in Rome later expanded into household items and furniture in the homes of the higher classes. By the third century AD, the citizens of Rome wore necklaces that contained coins with the image of the emperor. As Christianity spread through the European continent, Europeans ceased burying their dead with their jewelry. As a result, few gold items survive from the Middle Ages, except those of royalty and from church hordes.
and other precious metals
Platinum is not a gold but is a precious metal becoming more popular in fine jewelry. Heavier than gold, platinum has a pure silver gray sheen and is a very strong metal.
Sterling silver is a much beloved affordable metal with a whitish, silvery shading.
We can weave any of our ring styles in combinations of any of these metals. If you are interested in using combinations of metal or different-colored golds for your ring(s), please give us a call or email us with your request. Visit our gold combinations page for a look at some possibilities.
Gold found in its native state is rarely pure 24k, but is usually associated with silver and often with mercury. In its natural state of pure gold, the substance is very malleable and can be hammered into very thin sheets. When the silver content is a high percentage of a naturally-occuring gold mass, the metal is called electrum, a natural alloy. Gold is also found in tellurides and ore containing quartz wherein it is either visible, or enclosed in particles of sulfide minerals such as chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, and arsenopyrite. In some high-production gold mines, the gold is not visible and can be seen only on a highly polished surface when viewed through a high- powered microscope.
Gold has no oxides and is not affected by oxygen in the atmosphere as are other metals. This is why gold does not tarnish -- tarnish is the result of metal reacting with oxygen in a process called oxidation. Gold is malleable to the point that it can be hammered into a leaf or sheet of foil 3/1,000,000 inch thick (0.000003 inches) on an area approximately 6 square feet. The thin sheet is translucent and transmits a greenish light through the leaf.
Since gold alone is too soft to hold a form, gold is alloyed (combined with other metals) in order to make jewelry. When gold is alloyed, its ductility is diminished, but its malleability remains constant, except when large percentages of copper are added to the alloy. Nickel used in a white gold alloy has the same characteristics as silver. Zinc is added to the white gold alloy and lightens the color, but amounts in greater percentage than 14% of the entire alloyed mass will change the color to red and make the alloy brittle. The reason for using zinc in gold alloys is to absorb the oxygen to prevent silver and copper oxides in the mix.