Our Product Story
Gold is a remarkable, precious metal, with an unparalleled combination of chemical and physical properties. The only yellow metal, its name comes from the Old English word for yellow, 'geolu'. As the only metal that forms no oxide film on its surface in air at normal temperatures means that it will never rust or tarnish.
One of the three noble metals, gold in its pure form is a yellow metallic element. This soft metal performs best when alloyed with other metals to make it stronger. To produce rose gold, gold is alloyed with copper to create a warm pink hue.
Gold has long been considered one of the most precious metals in the world. For thousands of years it has been used as the ornament of kings and as a standard for global currencies.
Gold was probably first found on the ground and used by prehistoric man as a tool. The first known use of gold was in parts of central and eastern Europe, in 4000BC. Highly sophisticated gold art objects and jewelry dating back to around 3000BC have been discovered by archaeologists in the Sumerian Royal Tombs at Ur, in what is now southern Iraq. The Egyptians used gold to adorn their kings in life and death and, by 1500BC, gold had become a standard medium of international trade. Similarly, goldsmiths of the Chavin civilization in Peru were making ornaments by hammering and embossing gold by 1200BC.
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