Taiba information page of gold and CZ stones jewelry

What is gold?

Gold is a comparatively dense, shiny, yellow metal. As an element, gold is quite resistant to corrosion (by oxygen, but also many other chemicals). There are medical (dentistry), chemical and industrial applications of gold. However, aside these rather limited applications (for which, in fact, gold often can be substituted with other materials like copper, ceramics etc.)

Why is it expensive?

It is well known that gold is comparatively expensive (e.g. when compared with the same amount of iron or copper). So, why (at least over the last couple of thousand years) has humanity perceived gold as one of the most expensive materials on the planet? The reasons are in fact very simple: gold is rare, gold cannot be created (synthesized under economic costs) and, as mentioned before, it is shiny and does not oxidize. The latter property made gold an ideal material for jewelry and other representative uses. The ever growing demand for jewelry and the rareness of gold hence determined its price. In return, the high price made gold an ideal store of wealth. One kilogram of gold would have the volume of a small bar of chocolate and could easily be stored under your pillow or on the ground of the fish pond in your garden (no packaging required).

Why is gold more than just another precious metal?

As gold was perceived as an ideal store of wealth, its importance as a medium of exchange in trade grew. Finally, this lead to the invention of gold currencies. However, instead of exchanging real gold coins, it would be enough to only exchange the right on or the promise of a certain amount of gold. Paper money was born. As a result of the times when currencies were backed by gold, many financial institutions (central banks, the IMF etc.) hoard large quantities (several thousands of metric tons) of gold until today. Up until 1971, the US-Dollar was one of these gold backed currencies. Since many other countries linked their own currencies to the Dollar by more or less fix exchange rates, gold was de-facto the world currency.

How much gold is there?

The amount of gold that has been found or dug out in human history is estimated at 120,000 to 140,000 metric tons (1 metric ton = 1000 kilogram). This amount of gold would fit into one massive cube with edges of a length of 19 meters (imagine a cubic 6-storey house made of massive gold). Around 20-25% (30,000 metric tons) of this gold is hoarded by central banks. The rest is privately owned jewelry (70,000-80,000 metric tons) and bullion (20,000 metric tons). In other words, most of the world's gold is in private hands. The amount of gold that is mined per year is comparatively stable at just above 2% of the worlds above ground gold (around 2,600 metric tons per year)

PROPERTIES OF GOLD

Gold in its pure state:

Has a melting point of 1945 degrees Fahrenheit (1063 degrees Celsius). When alloyed (chemically combined) with other base metals the melting temperature of the resulting alloy is changed. 18K yellow gold has a melting point of 1675 degrees Fahrenheit and 14K yellow gold has a melting point of about 1550 degrees Fahrenheit.
Has a specific gravity of 19.33. It is relatively heavy compared to most metals, such as silver (SG 10.7) or iron (SG 7.8). A notable exception is platinum (SG 21.4).
Is more malleable than any other metal and can be hammered into foil so thin that it is almost transparent.
Has a unique ductility property allowing it to be drawn into wire so fine it can barely be seen.
Is deep yellow in color. Its great reflectivity properties help keep its brightness and color from fading with time.
Will not rust, tarnish or corrode. Gold jewelry recovered from ancient Egyptian tombs is in the same state as when placed there over 4000 years ago.
Is softer than most other metals. On the Mohs scale of hardness (which is a measure of a gemstone or mineral’s resistance to scratching), gold has a hardness value of 2 to 2.5. Diamond has a value of 10. Pure gold may easily be scratched. Fortunately, gold becomes harder when alloyed with other base metals.
Is relatively scarce and therefore expensive. It is estimated that only 125,000 tons of gold have been mined the world over since the beginning of time.
Is able to bond with other base metals. This property gives rise to the many different colors available in modern gold alloys.

Karat System:

A system of measurement based on 24 karats being "fine" or "pure" gold. 1 karat equals 1/24th fine gold by weight. This is the system used in the United States.

Karat Gold	Parts Gold	Percentage Gold	Normal Stamping
9 kt	9 in 24	37.50%	375
10 kt	10 in 24	41.67%	416
12 kt	12 in 24	50%	500
14 kt	14 in 24	58.33%	583 or 585
18 kt	18 in 24	75%	750
22 kt	22 in 24	91.67%	917
21 kt	21 in 24	87.5%	875
24 kt	24 in 24	99.99%	999 or .99999

Cz stones information vs diamond:

Since coming to the world's attention in the 1830s, diamonds in has been a favorite of stones for jewelry. Not everyone can afford to buy diamonds, so the search for the best man-made version has been battled for years.Cubic Zirconia is considered to be the best man-made diamond for jewelry on the market today.

There are several reasons some people do not purchase diamond jewelry. The first on being the over-inflated price some believe has been controlled by the DeBeers diamond coalition. Many people believe the prices do not reflect the rarity of diamonds in a fair manner. There have also been studies done showing one third of every diamond sold in the United States today has been altered by an artificial means to increase the value of the diamond. The same studies show young couples on an average are paying 40% too much for their diamond engagement ring.

The price is not the only reason some people are no longer gravitating away from diamond jewelry. There are the issues of the so called "blood diamonds" with the disturbing rumors of forced child labor and several other horrible human atrocities and cruelties. Well-know celebrities have brought it to the attention of Americans by the refusal to wear diamonds on the "red carpet" and have chosen to wear cubic zirconia stones in all their jewelry adornments for the "Oscar's" and other highly notable celebrity gatherings.

A good quality cubic zirconia in jewelry is practically identical from the mined diamonds. Even some jeweler cannot tell the difference between a cubic zirconia and a diamond without the aid of his gemologist's tool. The cost of cubic zirconia jewelry is about 75% less than the cost of a mined diamond.

So you might wear a gold ring with a real diamond stone with a low quality costing $1500 USD, where you can wear a CZ stone at high quality for less than $200, Frankly speaking people around you will not be able to tell whether you are wearing diamond or CZ stones. That’s why 99% of the people buying diamond ask if the jeweler has a certificate with the diamond before buying the diamond.

To add, in many places where you buy a low quality diamond, jewelers will not bother spending too much money making a certificate on their diamonds, and they end up providing an invoice or written documents to the buyers.