| OCR Text |
Show ; WHAT IS OUR JEWELRY P The terms "soHd gold," "solid' 1S-K gold." "sbflid rolled gold," "solid gold filled," "14-K rolled gold filled," "solid 14-K rolled gold plate," etc, as set forth in the thousands of advertisements daily under the eyresi of the masses of our people, prompt the first question what is solid gold? Strictly speaking, says a writer in Self-Culture, the only solid gold that should be recognized is the pure metal, or gold of twenty-four carats fine, which is the "fine gold" of the jewelry trado. Trade usage as well as general , custom calls any alloy or melted mix ture of metals containing gold "solid fold." The varying quantity of gold in proportion to the other metals mixed with it,, determines the "quality." "carat" or "iinieness" of the mixture: thus, a mixture of eighteen parts of fine gold and six parts of "alloy" is known and recognized as solid eigh-t eigh-t win-carat gold.. .Fourteen parts of fine gold and ten parts of alloying metal j gives us fourteeri-ca rat' solid gold, and so on. In every case there are enough parts of alloy added to the presupposed carat quality to reach the twenty-four carats equivalent to fine gold. This gives us the manner of preparation of the many grades of solid gold in the gold jewelry" of the trade. The various ! qualities run from eighteen carats down through the medium and lower gTades even to the poorest, which in its wearing wear-ing quality is no better than so much brass. In mixing the metals the alloy used in reducing the fine gold to the required quality is largely copper and silver, in a general proportion of two and a fraction to one, respectively. Other metals are often used in small proportions with copper and silver for many and vaiied technical reasons. A standing joke on many of the old-time old-time jewelers who used the old -fashioned large copper cents for their alloys al-loys was that in weighing up the metals met-als they would not stick at a cent in giving good weight, but tvould throw in an extra one lor good measure. The value of that great copper dis? before and after melting can be appreciated even by the uninitiated. The average quality of the gold jewelry jew-elry worn has, in one sr.ee. materially j and steadily dropped for many years. I Where, twenty-live years .ago. 'four- I teen carat metal was considered poor ! enough, the same .line is now drawn at ! ten carats. The great quantities of goods of even lower quality that, placed ( on the market, find a ready rale as substitutes for better goods, make it a matter of extreme doubt if the average f quality used will even reach the standard of ten carats fine. The im- ' . punity with which ten-carat gold is stamped as of fourteen-carat quality, and the reckless manner in which all sorts of misleading stamps are used j upon brasw, plated and low-grade gold 1 ' goods, were it but half understood bv j j. the general" public thus abused, would . speedily secure by legislation the na- ; 1 1 tional stamping laws that certainly are ' j iad!y needed. j |
