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Showing posts from December, 2008

Tri-Color and Two-Tone Gold, what are they?

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A recent email from one of our visitors asked me to explain what " Tri -Color Gold" means (as in our Flower Hoop Earrings shown here), and it occurred to me that a lot of folks may wonder about that, as well as "Two-Tone Gold". So here is an overview of what these terms mean--but first, an overview of gold colors. Pure 24K gold is of course a beautiful deep gold-yellow color. But, pure gold is too soft to be used in solid form for most kinds of jewelry--for instance, a ring made of pure gold would be too soft to hold up under continued wear on your finger. It would easily get squashed and scratched in everyday use. In addition, with pure gold trading at around $900 to $1,000 per ounce (the highest prices in history), pure gold jewelry is too expensive for most folks. All gold jewelry is therefore mixed with other metals to make it stronger and more economical--mixing metals together is called "alloying". When alloyed, the deep yellow of pure gold can be c