Refining your gold nugget will tell you exactly how much gold you have in your nugget. It could be anywhere from 60 to 98% depending on where you retrieved it from. The price is determined by the current gold spot price multiplied by the gold’s purity less your refining and assay fee. Find today’s gold spot price here.

If you’re selling to other gold nugget collectors, then appearance is important. When prospecting, be gentle as damage from your pick can actually reduce the value of the nugget. Use your metal detector to pin point the location of your nugget and dig carefully! For collectors, the look of gold nugget can be just as important for determining price as the percentage of gold it contains.

A specimen gold nugget is a matrix of gold and other rock, usually quartz or ironstone (in Australia). If the gold to rock ratio is high, and the shape shows off a lot of the gold at the surface, your nugget can hold a higher value. The largest specimen gold nugget in the world to this date is the Holterman Nugget found in Australia at Hill End, NSW in 1872 weighing in at 285 kg.

For the best price for your gold nuggets, a quality assay report and money in your account in as little as 3 days – contact PMT today.

Image courtesy of stock.xchng.

Enjoy this beautiful behind the scenes video The Making of the Soleil d’Automne Ring, from French jeweller Chanel which shows the making of a gemset ring.

Chanel Fine Jewellery began in 1932 when Mademoiselle Chanel exhibited her first jewellery collection built around the twin themes of the Comet and the Diamond. When the company revived this activity in 1993, the collection paid homage to its origins in the form of reproductions and reinterpretations of the first pieces from the “Bijoux de Diamant” collection.

How the gold is used determines the amount of gold in relation to other metals. Pure gold is actually very soft, and in order to be useful for example, in manufacturing jewellery, it is alloyed with several other metals to increase its hardness and durability.

Gold readily creates alloys with metals such as silver, copper, zinc or nickel. The ratio of gold and alloys can be modified to obtain certain colours (e.g. rose gold or white gold). Today manufacturing jewellers prefer nickel-free alloys as many people are allergic to the nickel in jewellery.

Gold comes in several carats, the purest being 24 carat gold which is also the most expensive. It also comes in 22 carat, 18 carat, and 9 carat gold, 18 carat being used widely in the manufacturing jewellery industry for its rich colour and durability. Most gold jewellery will be stamped with its carat (K or Kt), for example, on the inside of gold rings and bracelets.

The price of gold jewellery is based on it’s purity (carat), design and construction and current market price. Alloys add weight to gold, and so weight cannot be used to accurately determine the price.

Gold Purity: Quick Reference Guide

24 carat – 100% gold

22 carat – 91.7% gold

18 carat – 75.0% gold

14 carat – 58.3% gold

12 carat – 50.0% gold

10 carat – 41.7% gold

9 carat – 37.5% gold

Check out PMT’s range of Gold and Precious Metal Supplies for manufacturing jewellers.

More coming soon…