For Whom Wealth Matters
February 25, 2011 2 Comments
For all those complaining about the amount of gold jewellery that Indian women consume , take a look at this graph.Less than 5 grams per capita doesn’t seem all that excessive compared to the figures for Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong.
Interestingly,the fastest growth in consumption comes from China.The 2009 figure was 1/4th of a gram per person.
February 13, 2011 18 Comments
I’m sure most people have heard the Archimedes story.He was the Greek guy who got out of his bath tub and ran,naked, down the street,shouting Eureka!Eureka ! I’ve Found It !
Just to refresh memories,here is the story:
Archimedes was a Greek scientist who lived in ancient Syracuse . The King of Syracuse wanted a gold crown made. So he gave some gold to a goldsmith to have one made. After few days, the goldsmith brought the finished crown to the King. The King had the crown weighed. He found weight of the crown to be equal to the weight of the gold he had given the goldsmith . However the color of the crown made the King suspicious. He believed that the goldsmith had pocketed some of the gold he had been given for his own personal use. The King wanted to find out the truth. So he asked his court scientist Archimedes to find out how pure the gold in the crown was.Obviously Archimedes could not melt down the new crown to determine its purity.So to find a solution Archimedes thought about the problem day and night. One day,while he was preoccupied thinking about this problem, he proceeded to take a bath. He was so preoccupied that he failed to notice that the water in his bathtub was already full to the brim.So as he got into into the bathtub ,a large quantity of water flowed over the rim . Archimedes noticed this and had a brainwave . He was so excited to have at last found the solution to the King’s problem that he jumped out of the bathtub,and ran naked down the street, shouting, “Eureka! Eureka!” Eureka in Greek means ‘I have found it.’ Read more of this post
January 23, 2011 26 Comments
The British sovereigns are gold coins with a nominal face value of one pound sterling or twenty shillings.They were first issued in 1489 and still continue to be issued till date. All post-1837 sovereigns are still legal tender in the UK.
The name “sovereign” comes from the large size and portraiture of the coin, the earliest of which showed the king facing, seated on a throne, while the reverse shows the Royal coat of arms on a shield surrounded by a Tudor double rose.
At the height of the British Empire, gold sovereigns were well regarded and accepted as money throughout most of the world and used to settle dues between countries.The gold-standard may be no more, but the good reputation of the gold sovereigns for purity persists to this day and they are the most widely traded semi-numismatic gold coins in the world.In many parts of the former British Empire sovereigns are included in prized jewellery. There is a ready market for these gold coins worldwide,especially in the commonwealth, so they are pretty liquid investments. Read more of this post
January 22, 2011 7 Comments
All that glitters is not gold .Assaying determines just how much of that glitter is gold.
The simplest way in which jewellers roughly estimate the purity of gold is by using a touchstone.This method has been in use since ancient times.A touchstone is a small tablet of dark stone such as fieldstone, slate, or lydite which has a finely grained surface on which soft metals like gold leave a visible trace. Because different alloys of gold have different colours , depending on the different metals added to the gold and their quantities , the test sample can be compared to samples of known purity to estimate the gold content of the sample.Additionally, the fact, that the trace from the test sample will react differently to specific concentrations of nitric acid or aqua regia, can be used to estimate the quality of the gold.Unfortunately using a touchstone involves scratching the sample and each time the test is performed a tiny bit of gold is lost.And the results obtained by this method are not considered conclusive.
To avoid scratching gold,especially finished jewellery, we can use X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) which is a non-destructive technique used to identify and determine the concentrations of elements.This is the technology used in the carat meters,like the picture on the right, found in places like the Tanishq showrooms. But carat meters only assesses the metal 5 mm from the surface . So they can detect only surface adulterants.Also the machines do not identify a metal unless a sample has been fed (calibrated) into them.This is why for a long time iridium and ruthenium adulteration went undetected in India.
The only fool-proof method of determining the purity of gold is to go in for a fire assay. This is the method used in various BIS certified labs to conclusively establish the purity of gold.Unfortunately it is a destructive test. Read more of this post
January 22, 2011 1 Comment
Here is an article of interest for all those who by gold bars from the Gulf.It appeared in TOI in August’10.
Purity of gold a big concern for jewellers
MUMBAI: After having detected the presence of platinum group metals in certain 24-carat gold bars imported from a few Middle Eastern countries, a leading jewellery industry body has urged the government to install sophisticated photosynthesising machines at each of the airports through which gold is channelised into the country. According to the trade, there are less than 4 such machines in the 150 hallmarking centres across the country.
“Over the past few years, we have been finding that certain 24-carat gold bars imported from some Middle Eastern countries contain traces of platinum group metals such as iridium and ruthenium,” said Vinod Hayagriv, chairman of All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF). “In light of this, we have asked the government to install photosynthesising machines, which cost over Rs 1 crore a piece, at customs in each of the cities’ international airports.”
Mr Hayagriv confirmed that though the incorporation of such metals in gold bars was limited to miniscule volumes of imported gold, the trade had to be “forewarned” of their likely presence. He was speaking at the launch of Swiss-made Milleret watches by Veeline Jewels & Watches at the recently concluded IIJS 2010, a business-to-business trade show organised by Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council.
Gold melts at 1063 degree celsius but the process begins at 800 degree C. Iridium and ruthenium melt at 1900-2000 degree C and can be melted along with gold. While gold starts melting at 800 degree C, ruthenium remains unmelted (the melting process begins at 2000 degrees C) in the form of a globule in some block of gold. As it remains unmelted the total weight of gold — the yellow metal is sold on weight — goes up. Read more of this post
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