We are conducting a poll to find out what kind of jewelry men like on women. The results so far are as follows:
22 % like earrings, 17 % like bracelets, 21 % like necklaces, 17 % like rings, 10 % like ankle bracelets, 6 % like belly button rings and 8 % like no jewelry, .
In the past jewelry was worn primarily by women but in recent years some men have started wearing jewelry such as neck chains, bracelets, and earrings. What do women think of this fashion? The results of our survey are as follows:
49 % like no jewelry, 8 % like earings, 14 % like bracelets and 29 % like chains.
Gold is a safe buy. Unlike with gems, where you
really need to be an expert to judge the quality of the stones, buying
gold is straight forward if you go to a reputable shop. Estate jewelry will give you the best value.
The most critical thing to look for in buying gold jewelry apart
from the style, is the purity of the gold. The higher the gold content,
the more valuable it is. Pure gold is considered too soft for jewelry
and is therefore mixed with other metals. The percentages used in the
alloy is dependent on the metal and the way in which it binds with gold.
The maximum tensile strength of copper and gold is achieved with 75% gold
and 25% copper - 18k gold. With titanium the maximum tensile strength
is achieved with 99% gold and 1% titanium. The length of time and the
heat at which the metals are cooked are also significant. For example
a 99.3% gold and .7% titanium mixture heated at 500° C for 60 minutes
would result in a hardness of 229 HV (18k gold of 75% gold has a hardness
of 170 HV). With a different temperature or time the hardness could be
much less.
The demand among Asian consumers for gold with a high fineness, which
can be easily transferred into money, but with improved mechanical properties
such as resistance to wear, distortion and breakage is leading Thai goldsmiths
to the use of titanium. Prima Gold and Gold Master for example both use
a titanium and gold alloy. However this represents a very small section
of the market in Thailand.
The level of fineness will depend on the country. The following table
is the result of a survey by the Gold Institute of Thailand:
karat
% gold
Country
Color
24k
100%
Switzerland
gold
23k
96.5%
Thailand
dark yellow
22k
91.7%
India
yellow
21K
84.5%
Middle East
yellow
18K
75%
Italy, France, Japan
yellow, white
14K
58.3%
America, UK
yellow, white
10K
41.6%
America
yellow
9K
37.5%
UK
green yellow
8K
33.3%
Germany
pale yellow
The karatage and gram weight designate how much gold is in a piece, but
are not the sole determining price factors. The craftsmanship and level
of detail are also taken into account.
Auctions
Police auctions are one of the best places to buy jewelry cheaply. There is usually no reserve price as the police simply want to get rid of the items.
When old people die leaving no successors the lawyers will often auction off the possessions of the deceased and usually don't put a reserve price on the items.
When selling costume jewelry the auctioneers will put many worthless items in a box with a few valuable pieces.
Ethical Jewelry
The only ethical way to buy jewelry is to purchase it second-hand. To produce enough gold for a ring,
about 18 tons of waste ore are created. Once it’s extracted, the ore is piled into huge heaps and sprayed with cyanide and then usually just abandoned. Gold mines can reach temperatures of 130° so they are not pleasant or safe places to work in.
The ongoing attempt by Gabriel Resources
to start gold mining in the beautiful unspoilt village of Rosia Montana
is typical the conflicts involved.
The No Dirty Gold Campaign has already convinced various companies and jewelry shops to ensure that the gold they sell is either recycled or comes from sustainable sources.
Buying second-hand jewelry is not only the right thing to do morally but is also a good investment. Indeed it is a great way to buy gold below the market price. There are many TV buyers doing this and then selling the jewelry to refineries; however you could just keep the jewelry. If people need to raise money in a hurry to pay off debt they will sell their jewelry for considerably less than it is worth. Our poll on the price that people would be prepared to sell a 14k gold chain for shows that 60% of respondents would be willing to sell it for 20% or less than its value and 25% of respondents would sell it for 40% or less. Buying people's unwanted jewelry is probably a better way to invest in gold than buying coins or bullion.
There are many advantages to owning gold in the form of jewelry.
There is no paper trail in the ownership of gold jewelry so it can be tax efficient. If you give your gold jewelry to your heirs there is no tax liability.
Gold jewelry is unlikely to be subject to government confiscation. This might seem unlikely in this day and age but its worth remembering that in 1933, President Roosevelt ordered U.S. citizens to surrender all their gold coins, gold bullion and gold certificates to the Federal Reserve. Owning gold was punishable by fine up to $10,000 and/or ten years in prison. Gold jewelry was exempt.
Jewelry that you are wearing is not subject to customs duties or exchange controls. This is useful if you need to get money into or out of the country.
Owning gold in the form of jewelry means you can use and enjoy it. Its a cost effective way to flaunt your wealth - you can't wear your share certificates to your friend's party! Even if the gold price does not go up or declines, you have still got something out of it.
If you use paypal to buy the jewelry you can always make a chargeback if you have problems. Paypal seems to favour the buyer in disputes.
Testing the purity of the gold
Testing the purity of gold is very hard. Most of the tests only show the purity of the piece being assayed. This is why it is so important to buy gold
from a reputable supplier.
There are a few simple tests that you can make.
Rub the piece of gold across a piece of unglazed porcelain tile. It should not make a black streak. If it does then it is pyrite.If the streak is golden yellow then it is gold.
Try scratching glass with the piece of gold. If it scratches the glass, it is definitely not gold, or is mixed with other metals and the purity is very low.
Hold a magnet near the piece of gold. If the magnet attracts the gold piece, then there are other metals mixed in the gold. This is not pure gold.
Drop a very small amount of hydrochloric or sulfuric acid onto the gold. If the gold begins to dissolve, then there is some other type of metal mixed with the gold and it is not pure.
Most gold shops use a standard fire assay which uses heat to test the
purity of the gold.
A good place to test gold is the Gems Institute of Thailand, which is one
of only 7 laboratories in the world recognized by the International Confederation
of Jewelry (CIBJO). They can assay the gold using:
X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) which has an error rate of 2 or 3 per thousand.
This equipement finds the quantity of a sample by Energy Dispersive
X-Ray Analysis
Inductivity Couple Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES)
which is a chemical assay and has an accuracy of 1 per thousand.
Testing Gold Coins
When buying gold coins you might want to use the Fisch Fake Coin Identification
Gauge. This is a simple device that checks the weight and size of a gold
coin. By checking both these dimensions all common metal counterfeits will
be detected. This is because gold has a greater density than the commmon
metals such as lead, copper, brass, steel. The only metals with a density
greater than gold are the platinum group metals and tungsten. The price
of platinum rules it out while tungsten is a very hard brittle which would
be very difficult to work into a passable fake. There are Fisch for all
the major gold bullion coins.
Getting gold out of the country
At the moment there are no restrictions on getting gold out the US, but there is no guarantee that exchange controls could not be introduced in the future.
Most countries do not recognize gold as a monetary instrument (at least based on its market value), so
gold can be moved freely and privately across most borders. In the United States, the law requires that an individual is required to report if s/he is leaving
the country with more than $10,000, or foreign equivalent, in monetary instruments. So what is
a monetary instrument? Domestic and foreign currency, travelers checks in any form, money
orders, negotiable instruments, stock certificates, or any investment securities in bearer form.
If you leave (or enter) the United States with more than $10,000 in monetary instruments, you
must fill out form FinCen 105, which you can ask for upon arrival or departure.
Gold bars and coins are not included on this list. One-ounce American Eagle coins have a face
value of $50, therefore theoretically 200 Eagle coins would meet the $10,000 threshold. Of
course, it is not illegal to depart the country with more than $10,000-- you simply have to declare
the money... so if you are nervous or in doubt about leaving the country with your gold,
just ask for the form.
In Canada, the rules are essentially the same. Entering or leaving the country with more than C$10,000 or foreign equivalent in monetary instruments must be declared to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on form E667.
There are certain countries, Taiwan and Uruguay for example, that require you to
declare ownership of gold upon entry.
Since laws change all the time, make sure you check your departing and arrival country’s customs
information before the trip.
Buying jewelry for your girlfriend
A present that can be easily converted
into cash such as jewelry is probably not the best present to buy your
date as there is always the danger that she could be a 'gold-digger' who
is just stringing you along. A
worthless but expensive present such as a dinner for two in a plush restaurant
is probably a better bet. If you are determined to buy your lady jewelry
you should probably go for a piece from a company like Tiffany,
for example, which is expensive enough to impress her but which has a
poor resale value.
Where to store your gold
1. Spread your holdings around. Not only is it wise to avoid keeping all your physical gold in one place, diversifying your storage arrangements allows you to buy more. Hide some at home in several locations (no cookie jars, though), and obviously tell only one trusted person. Store some in a bank safe deposit box and use more than one bank as your holdings grow.
2. Private storage. Store your gold with a private vaulting company. The advantage is that it’s outside the banking system; the disadvantage is that it’s usually expensive, though it can be cost effective for large holdings. Do your own due diligence if you go this route because we can’t vouch for any facility, but you could start by checking out delawaredepository.com. Keep in mind that using a vaulting facility beyond a reasonable driving distance will mean added shipping/insurance costs and restrict quick access.
3. Use pool accounts and unallocated storage. Pool accounts refer to a precious metal account deposit in which the client does not have title to specific (allocated) bars or coins. The client instead owns a defined but unallocated interest in a pool of precious metals. However, the client is entitled to receive physical bullion in the form of any type of bar or coin upon payment of quoted fabrication charges.
With a pool or unallocated account, you’re essentially getting free storage no matter how big your stash. That’s hard to beat. You’ll pay fabrication and delivery charges if/when you convert your holdings and take delivery, but in the meantime, you save on storage costs. Great value for the large holder. Kitco is one company that offers this service.
Another way to buy gold cheaply
Gold mining may be immoral but it is highly profitable and buying shares in gold mining companies is a cost effective way to buy gold. Even taking into account the costs of extraction and refinement
it is cheaper in general than buying gold bullion at current market prices.
ETFs
Gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) have been around since 2003. It is a way of buying into movements in the gold price without physically storing the metal yourself. Investors may be aware that in September 2008 a number of ETFs were suspended as they were backed by AIG products. However, one gold ETF that was not suspended because it is backed by real gold was the ETF Securities Physical Gold fund, which trades on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol PHAU.
