Gold and diamond jewels are timeless – that’s why they represent such a safe and lasting buy.
Outstanding properties of Gold and diamond
Gold jewelry will last way longer than any other jewelry!
Gold is an incredibly long-lasting metal thanks to its inertia that keeps it from reacting with the other elements. It offers great resistance to oxidation, corrosion, acids, decomposition and it doesn’t rust, even when in direct contact with sea or fresh water. The only way for gold to change ist appearance is… by melting!
This precious metal is also ductile, very malleable and can be transformed into long or thin wires without any risk of breaking. It takes one gram of gold to produce a 2-kilometer long wire! This property makes the created jewelry less fragile and unlikely to break.
Diamond being gold’s inseparable partner, its qualities are also as numerous – starting with its capacity to withstand wear and tear. Nothing can scratch a diamond, except for another diamond. There’s nothing harder than a diamond – it is at the top of the Mohs scale, whaich is a scale designed to classify mineral hardness from 1 to 10.
Gold and diamond, major roles in history
With its unique qualities, gold has always played a major part in the history of civilizations. This shiny, malleable, immutable and rare metal quickly became a high exchange value, already invented by the Greeks from Asia Minor back in the 6th century BC. Gold coins were actually minted under Croesus, king of Lydia (561-546 BC) which gave rise to the expression “As rich as Croesus”.
The yellow metal‘s history has had a lot of significant events, such as the Gold rush in America. The quest for gold led to political chaos when gold began to lack.
Known as a noble material from time immemorial, gold was associated to the holy, divine, supernatural powers and even immortality. Thus we see it in ancient Egypt on art items, jewelry, and funerary objects, all incredibly beautiful. Used for divinatory and funerary rituals, gold was supposed to immortalize the dead’s image forever.
Gold was often assimilated to a symbol of divinity because of its yellow tone and its light radiation similar to that of the sun. Its inalterability also made it tob e associaated with immortality. The pre-Colombian America, Aztec, Maya, Inca civilizations all used gold in many ways: jewels, masks and pure gold items that they wore or used during holy rituals.
Worshiped in the whole world, we find gold in all religions and royalties, at the Vatican, the Kinkaku-ji in Japan (Golden Pavillion), an entirely gold-coated building, the Golden Buddha in Bangkok in Thailand,which is one of the most spectacular sculptures from the Buddhist culture and in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles with gold leaf gilding.
Diamond‘s history on the other hand began in India, some 4,000 years ago. These precious stones have a high symbolic value in the holy texts – they adorned religious objects because of their supposed protective power against evil spirits. In ancient Greece, diamonds were associated to Gods’ tears or star bursts fallen from the sky. The word “diamond” comes from the Greek “Adamas”, meaning invincible, indestructible - a term that became later “diamas”.
Diamond has adorned engagement rings for a long time – starting with Maximilien Archduke of Austria, engaged to Mary of Burgundy in 1477, who gave her a magnificent diamond as a token of his love. Held sacred by Marilyn who used to say “diamonds are a girl’s best friend”, these beautiful stones have now become a symbol of luxury and a token of love.
Gold and diamond, smart investments
Since the yellow metal and diamonds are so rare, it makes them precious. Gold mines are expected to run out by 2025 and so prices will increase. The Indian and Brazilian mines are getting empty and this has created a new Eldorado in South Africa, which has one of the few mines still in operation. Demand should thus increase by 5.9 percent per year, whereas supply would only increase by 2.7 percent (Global rough diamond supply study from 2013). What’s rare is expensive so it apparently, diamonds will keep getting more and more expensive over the next 15 years.
Giving gold jewelry as a gift will always be of sure value. William Shakespeare used to say “All that glisters is not gold“; and that “many a man his life has sold but my outside to behold”…
To know more about the difference between 9 or 18 carat gold > See the diamond guide >
