Throughout the ages gold has always reigned as the preferred metal for manufacturing jewellery. Gold was rare and valuable and ideal for jewellery as it didn’t tarnish and never lost its lustre. Another advantage of using gold in jewellery making was that it was easy to work with. Pure gold is classed as 24 carat and is a soft metal. It is because of this characteristic that gold was ideal for necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings. Excavations in the land of the Pharaohs and the discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun have revealed many gold artefacts and displayed the ancient Egyptians talent for making gold jewellery.

The Egyptians were not alone when it came to making jewellery from gold. The Greeks were also a fan of gold and went a step further in jewellery making. They made beads and used gemstones such as emeralds,
garnets, amethysts and pearls. These gemstones were set with gold to add another dimension to Greek jewellery.

The Egyptians and the Greeks were not the only civilisations to realise the potential of gold in jewellery making. Around the eight century the Italian Etruscans, located around the Tuscany region produced gold work. They made necklaces, bracelets and earrings and most fascinating of all they made pendants that were hollow in nature and could be filled with perfume. The Romans also used gold, but not in the manufacture of jewellery. They used gold to make coins, and the carat value they used was 18 and 24. When they did make jewellery they tended to work with gold and precious stones, using sapphires from Sri Lanka and Indian diamond crystals. Gold will continue to be a strong force in the manufacture and some even say that without gold there would be no jewellery!