Gold Jewelry ... Simple ... Elegant ... Honest


GOLD! Eureka! The discovery of gold ore deposits has caused huge displacements of prospectors through hundreds of years. Two significant discoveries in North America caused stampedes to the west – the 1949 California Gold Rush and the 1890s stampede to the Klondike fields of the Yukon Territory. Gold has held a special place in the history and psyche of mankind since very early times. It has been the basis for money, the setting for jewelry and the cause of wars.

In the Victorian Age gold was the primary metal in jewelry. Silver was often used to back the diamonds and other gemstones, as the brighter silver gave greater brilliance to the gems than did the yellow tones of gold. By the end of the 19th century platinum had displaced the use of silver for that purpose, and by the Edwardian years, it had replaced gold as the dominant jewelry metal.

The development of white gold for use in jewelry in 1915 did increase the use of gold versus platinum, but the Art Deco era jewelry continued to be platinum centric. An interesting protocol was developed in that time. Gold – yellow gold – was the choice for daytime jewelry, while platinum – and to a lesser extent white gold – was de rigueur for evening wear.

So many of those rules of fashion have disappeared over time. Personally, I like the warm beauty of yellow gold … simple, elegant, honest.

We have a nice variety of gold jewelry available at Vintages … both in the Los Gatos shop and online.
 

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