Golden truth about gold jewellery

by Amal Hewavissenti

Gold remains topmost among the things that unavoidably go higher in price sharply in line with the mounting value of the dollar. Today’s value or price of gold dramatically changes tomorrow with a rate on a different scale up. Just the same, the value of gold in terms of whatever currency being used continues to be on the same level throughout the world and its appeal spectacularly rises up.

However, higher its price rise, there is no change in the ever-increasing demand for it from even low income earners though buying jewellery is out of their price range. Yet, the pathetic aspect of this industry is that some jewellers play shrewd diplomatic games on the customers by keeping them in the dark about the real content of gold in the particular ornament and the criteria by with sellers determine the price of it.

Jewellery with stones

A factor that determines the price of a gold ornament is the use of different types of precious stones. For instance, jewellery with diamonds fixed, are the most expensive in the world. The current fad too is to wear jewellery with valuable and colourful stones. Self-evidently, the market price of such gold jewellery reflects the total value of content of the gold, value of the stone or diamond, and the labour charges.

It must be remembered, however, that a bank is ready to pay for mortgaged gold jewellery with precious stones, only to the value of the gold in them even if they are decorated with the most expensive precious stones. The bank machines that check the weight of jewellery, read only the weight of gold and the bank does not account for the weight of stones on the jewellery. Therefore, it is sensible to buy jewellery made purely out of gold because it would prove a well contemplated investment for the future. On the other hand, the value of the particular gold ornament will redouble if it is accompanied by precious stones.

White gold - a fashionable substitute

As experts in gold jewellery repeatedly point out, ornaments made of pure gold is comparatively weaker against hard use. The most expensive and valuable substance used to make ornaments is not gold but platinum, a silvery white metal that is hardly used for such purposes in Asian countries such as Sri Lanka.

Jewellery made from platinum are priceless, unique and irreplaceable. In the latest market, an increasing demand is being made for jewellery crafted from white gold that is 18 carat or less and is stronger relative to pure gold. Quite naturally, the poorer an ornament is in gold, the stronger it really is. Most jewellers produce gold jewellery by blending white gold with pure gold but still a greater demand exists for pure gold jewellery specially in Asian countries.

The use of white gold is widespread in Western countries where it is becoming popular with young fashion lovers. White gold is gaining more popularity at a rapid rate nowadays with ladies too, as bridal accessories are now made of white gold. The current fad is to decorate white gold jewellery with precious stones, specially with American diamonds. On the other hand, there is yet another popular trend to produce tricolour jewellery which are applied with coppery red, gold and white that may gradually wear away with use.

Modes of manufacture

In a comparatively smaller market, a few dealers import gold and most jewellers buy gold from them to sell at their shops in Sri Lanka. Most people buy gold jewellery for an economic boon, with the expectation that they could either sell or mortgage them to prepare for financial problems that may arise later in life. Therefore, it has become a sensible investment.

Though jewellery made from white gold are stronger than those of pure gold, no bank, under any condition, will accept white gold ornaments as mortgaged items because white gold is below eighteen carats. It is not generally known that within the legal framework of banks, it is unacceptable for the banks to be the mortgagee for white gold. Technical factors in the manufacture of gold jewellery count to a considerable degree.

For instance, the handmade jewellery are virtually more valuable and more expensive than machine-cut jewellery. The hand made gold ornaments go higher mainly because it involves time-consuming production that calls for high level of manual labour. Moreover, some jewellery are made by casting in which melted gold is poured into a mould set to a particular fashionable design. These ornaments are classed with the machine cut jewellery that are comparatively lower in price than pure gold.

Absurd habits

It is a common occurrence across the country that people buy new ornaments by paying less or more in exchange for the jewellery that they have been wearing for a long time. This happens chiefly because people find it difficult to buy jewellery made with the value of two or three sovereigns to the latest patterns and designs. Gold jewellery, however old they are (perhaps five thousand years or more) can be assessed precisely to the current value.

Gold has the value that visibly rises with time. Some labour under the delusion that they can have their old jewellery crafted into different, fashionable ornaments that contain roughly the same amount of gold as the old one. The idea of moulding a new ornament out of the old one successfully is a longstanding myth because heavy melting of the ornament may noticeably reduce the original value and amount of gold.Though any gold ornament retains its value, there is a possibility for it to lose its lustre with the passage of time.

Unnecessarily excited or concerned by this, the owners tend to have it polished only to see a very slight difference of improvement. Continuous polishing of one’s gold jewellery in order to give it soft glow or shine, makes it wear away unnoticed. A customer who is bent on retaining the earlier amount of gold can add a small amount of gold to make up for what has been lost in the process of remaking.

Price varies

In spite of all this, the price of gold varies noticeably among the shops. This obviously signifies that physical factors too bring about discrepancies in the price of gold that is meant to be the same across the country. It becomes blatantly obvious to the customer that the nature, location or facilities of a particular shop play a major role in distinct price variations.

For instance, gold ornaments kept on display in what is generally accepted as ‘super shops’ are on a sharp increase in price. Some such shops are pricing themselves out of the market. The customer should test whether the precise content of gold is present in the ornament that he has bought irrespective of where he has bought it.

The customer has the right to ask for a quality certificate from any jeweller he has bought jewellery from. This particular certificate issued by state institutes on gems and jewellery, contains the vital data covering almost all the aspects of a piece of jewellery bought.

In short, any customer has the legal right to ask jewellers for the quality certificate that clearly showcases the weight, amount of gold, current market value and nature of gold in carats. But unfortunately the customer is hardly aware of his rights about buying jewellery and the jewellers too often tend to keep them in the dark about such privileges on the part of the customer.

The jewellers are sometimes careful not to give the slightest hint to the customer that there is a ‘legal’ right to get an authentic certificate from jewellers about the genuineness of their product. Therefore, the customer can place a high value on what he buys by having a complete check up on it. That really is the golden truth about gold jewellery.

(The writer is thankful to R.T. Razlaan for a wealth of data)