12 interesting facts about jewellery
- Wearing Gold Jewellery can alleviate Rheumatoid Arthritis
- About 75% of American brides receive a diamond engagement ring.
- Silver has been known and valued as a precious metal since ancient times and
has been used in the making of silver jewellery as well as ornaments, coins and high value tableware. - Diamond Thieves and Smugglers use homing pigeons to smuggle rough diamonds out of mining areas.
- The largest diamond ever found was the The Cullinan. It weighed 3,106 carats, or about one and a third pounds!
- Gold is so rare that the world pours more steel in an hour than it has poured gold since the beginning of recorded history.
- A new mineral, discovered in Russia, has been named Dianite, after Princess Diana, and it will eventually be polished and mounted in jewellery.
- Some Gemstones are Dangerously Radioactive. Recently, some rare chrysoberyl cat's eyes were released onto world markets. They had been irradiated to improve their colour, by a nuclear technician in Indonesia, and released prematurely, while still emitting high levels of radiation.
- The opal was one of Queen Victoria’s personal favorites; she presented them as wedding gifts to her daughters and also wore them herself.
- Diamond clarity refers to the degree of transparency in the gemstone.
- In it's purest form, silver is too soft for jewellery so here in the UK it is alloyed with copper in a ratio of 92.5% silver with 7.5% copper to produce what is known as 925 Sterling Silver.
- Gold has been discovered on every continent on earth.
