Traditionally most Native American Jewelry is made with sterling silver as opposed to gold. Here at Jewelry of the Southwest we have taken the traditional Native American jewelry styles and incorporated the inlay with gold. Although there is a high demand for Native American jewelry made with gold it is not the most common and easily found style. These hand made fine coral and turquoise, lapis, jet, mother of pearl, and opal inlaid gold products will grab the attention of all passer byers.
Since the beginning of time people have been entrawled by gold and since the earliest days of civilization gold has been used in jewelry.Gold was used to make necklaces earrings, rings, bracelets and other items as early as 3000 BC. By 1000 BC jewelry making was on the rise in Central and Western Europe. Gold jewelry can be greatly complimented with the addition of lapis, turquoise, opal, coral, mother of pearl and jet.
Southwest Coral is a popular gem used with turquoise jewelry, and with different tones of red can contrast the green and blue tones of turquoise. Cultures located near shallow waters and those cultures that had trade routes have utilized Southwest Coral for trade and in their Southwest jewelry.
In many ancient cultures Southwest Coral jewelry was important for its many believed supernatural benefits, including as a ward against accidents and a protective amulet against magic. Southwest Coral is also a symbol for the Life Force Energy, and is believed to help bring harmony in your heart. Southwest Coral is a soft gem, making it easy to shape and work with, attributes that allowed prehistoric peoples to utilize it for personal ornamentation in various forms of Southwest jewelry. The use of Southwest Coral in early Southwest jewelry evolved from mere adornment to charms with spiritual properties.
Southwest Coral jewelry was worn often as a medicine man to ward off evil spirits, witchcraft, and the devil. Southwest Coral is also attributed with providing vitality, physical strength, strengthened marital relationships, and wealth. Ancient cultures also used Southwest Coral for medicinal purposes to treat ailments of the blood and head, and to strengthen the immune system by supporting the lymph nodes.
Southwest Coral grows and is found in salt water depths from 25 to 1000 feet. Increased demand for Southwest Coral has led to the near depletion of shallow-water occurring Southwest Coral. Though Coral found in shallow waters sees more harvesting, that which occurs in deeper water is of better color and quality. The most desired specimens of the Mediterranean Sea and Sea of Japan are among the nearly depleted supplies. It naturally occurs in many colors including white, black, blue, lavender, pink, and many shades of red. While each color has been used in Southwest jewelry, it is red Southwest Coral that has flourished aesthetically in Southwest jewelry. Because the demand outweighs the supply, jewelers have resorted to alternatives; namely dyed sea bamboo Coral and sponge Coral Bamboo and sponge Southwest Coral are more readily available and lessen not only the stress on the dwindling red Southwest Coral supply, but also the cost of materials.
The majority of Southwest Coral jewelry on the market today is bamboo or sponge Southwest Coral that provide the attractive look of Southwest Coral without the heavy price. These are attractive substitutions, but there are some notable differences between them and red Southwest Coral. Sponge Southwest Coral is very porous and is known to have brown patches. It can be stabilized to have a smooth surface, but brown swirls can still be visible. Bamboo Southwest Coral is smoother than sponge Southwest Coral, but occurs white in nature. It is dyed to achieve the red color. Poor quality bamboo Southwest Coral jewelry can lack uniform color, and may appear streaky. Also visible can be black spots a natural occurrence in bamboo Southwest Coral. The use of bamboo or sponge Southwest Coral in Southwest jewelry is widely accepted, though it is important the Southwest Coral be labeled as such.
Gold has a long and complex history. From golds first discovery, it has symbolized wealth and guaranteed power. Gold has caused obsession in men and nations, destroyed some cultures and gave power to others. Archaeological digs suggest the use of Gold began in the Middle East where the first known civilizations began. 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 gold working.
The Persian Empire, in what is now Iran, made frequent use of Gold in artwork as part of the religion of Zoroastrianism. Persian gold work 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. In the Americas, the skill of Pre-Columbian cultures in the use of Gold was highly advanced long before the arrival of the Spanish. Indian goldsmiths had mastered most of the techniques known by their European contemporaries when the Spanish arrived. They were adept at filigree, granulation, pressing and hammering, inlay and lost-wax methods.
The Spanish conquerors melted down most of the gold that they took from the peoples of this region and most of the remaining examples have come from modern excavations of grave sites. The greatest deposits of gold from these times were in the Andes and in Columbia.
During the frontier days of the United States news of the discovery of gold in a region could result in thousands of new settlers, many risking their lives to find gold. Gold rushes occurred in many of the Western States, the most famous occurring in California at Sutters Mill in 1848.
Elsewhere, gold rushes happened in Australia in 1851, South Africa in 1884 and in Canada in 1897. The rise of a gold standard was meant to stabilize the global economy, dictating that a nation must limit its issued currency to the amount of gold it held in reserve. Great Britain was the first to adopt the gold standard in 1821, followed, in the 1870s, by the rest of Europe followed. The system remained in effect until the end of the First World War, after which the US was the only country still honoring the Gold Standard.
After the war, other countries were allowed to keep reserves of major currencies instead of gold. The arrival of the great depression marked the end of the U.S. export of gold in the 1930s. By mid 20th century, the US dollar had replaced gold in international trade. The American Eagle Bullion program was launched in 1986 with the sale of gold and silver bullion coins. Platinum was added to the American Eagle Bullion family in 1997. A bullion coin is a coin that is valued by its weight in a specific precious metal. If you are fascinated by gold, as most humans have been for the past 7,000 years, then you might find the following facts about the beautiful metal that you may be wearing on your neck, wrists and fingers to be quite interesting and in some cases surprising as well. Gold and copper were the first metals to be discovered by man, around 5000BC, and together with silver these three metals are found in the metallic state in the earth's crust. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the mining and production of gold was halted for nearly 1000 years until the Spanish discovered America in 1492. In the 14th century, the Incas, who considered gold "the sweat of the sun," conquered the Chimu Empire and made Chimu goldsmiths; cover every inch of their Temple of the Sun's walls in gold.
In the 15th century, gold inspired Cortes to defeat Montezuma in Mexico and seize the Aztec's vast gold stores in an effort to revive Spain's economy. In 1531, Pizarro invaded Peru and captured the Incas' ruler Atahualpa and immediately melted down all of the Inca gold and sent it back to Spain. Gold mining took on much larger dimension after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on the American River in 1848. The gold that was discovered in Australia and South Africa contributed to a supplementary increase in the world's gold supply and marked a turning point in the history of gold.
Once a rare metal, gold now became more attainable by people of all classes. The Italian Renaissance coincided with the discoveries of new sources of gold, and wealthy Italian patrons supported goldsmiths as they did painters and sculptors. The chemical symbol for gold is Au, from the Latin aurum, which means 'shining dawn'. Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn which links to the warm, yellow color of gold. Gold and copper are the only two non white colored metals. Gold is still mined in its metallic form in over 60 countries around the world. Gold is referred to as a precious and a noble metal.
Gold has an excellent chemical stability with a high resistance to corrosion and oxidation. The purity of gold is measured in Carats or Karats. A Carat was originally a unit of weight based on the carob bean, used by ancient merchants in the Middle East. The Carat is still used for the weight of gem stones where 1 carat = 200mg. Pure gold is 24 carats. In Europe, 18 and 14 carat alloys are commonly used in jewelry while nine carat gold is popular in Britain. Many countries require every item of gold jewelry to be clearly stamped with its cartage. This hallmarking system was developed in London in the 14th century at Goldsmiths' Hall. All of the gold in the world could be compressed into an 18-yard cube, which is about 1/10 the mass of the Washington Monument.
It is believed that only 88,000 tons of gold have been taken from the earth since recorded history, leaving far more yet to be discovered. A one-ounce gold nugget is rarer and harder to find than a five-carat diamond. Even though gold is rare, it is far easier to find than winning a major state lottery. Gold is so heavy that one cubic foot of it weighs half a ton. Gold is six to seven times heavier than other materials that equal its size. The largest gold nugget found in the U.S. weighed 195 pounds; it came from California. A single ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 60 miles long. Gold can be hammered so thin that sunlight can shine through it. Gold can be hammered into sheets so thin that a pile of them an inch high would contain more than 200,000 separate sheets. In every cubic mile of sea water there is 25 tons of gold and there are10 billion tons of gold in the oceans. These are just some of the surprising facts about the world's favorite precious metal.
