Man And Gold Through The Ages

History of Man and His Gold

The history of gold is virtually the history of man's civilization. Over the centuries, gold is been the accurate measure and mirror of man's aspirations and motivations, faithfully revealing our efforts in its gleaming surfaces. Yet gold is so remarkably impervious to the effects of time while it shows the instincts of mankind both noble and base. There is little question that gold has shaped and enhanced our lives, yet it has occasionally destroyed entire civilizations.

Gold is like nothing else see my man under the sun, sky and sea. It’s beautiful qualities are both overwhelmingly practical and yet somehow mystical. Wherever gold has become the basis of economic life, it’s flow and movement has created paths that have changed forever the destiny of men and nations. Over the centuries, gold has assumed many additional roles, especially in our age of sophistication and technology. Gold is still priced as a store of money and value, but it has many uses. While its principal use is still in jewelry, gold now has many additional applications in our contemporary life. Gold has soared into space with the astronauts, its reflective ability used on the heat shields that are critical to life. It is used in medicine and dentistry as well as a number of industries and especially in electronics. Because of its great resistance to corrosion, gold is used as an electrical contact material, and this has put gold into hundreds of hi-tech electronics applications from TV sets to telephones, computers, cell phones and calculators, there is no question that this metal has proven its contemporary worth.

Valued by both individuals and governments, gold is become increasingly accepted as a viable medium of investment in the United States. This is largely due to the development of exchange-traded funds that buy and hold gold for investors. They have become increasingly important in recent years and are spreading from the US market to investment markets around the world. Historically, gold has been an important store hold of wealth for families in Europe, India and China. As the developing markets of the world increase in wealth, gold investment from the residents of countries such as India and China continues to accelerate. In times of inflation or monetary devaluation, gold holds a value that cannot be destroyed by the greed, mistakes and errors of human governments. This fact holds a great appeal for residents of countries with unstable and unreliable governments.

Gold is actually all around us. It is both seen and unseen. It exists in the earth's crust in the season, rivers and implants. It exists, in minute quantities, even in our bodies. About 10,000,000,000 tons of gold are estimated to be held suspended in ocean waters of the world. Unfortunately the cost of removing that gold from the ocean makes its recovery highly uneconomic. The search for gold remains exciting, dramatically speculative, and an adventure of high stakes, high risks and higher rewards. Were gold does exist in payable quantities, it is still difficult and expensive to mine, and often five to 10 tons of ore must be mined and processed to extract just 1 ounce of gold. As a result, there is no reason to wonder why gold is such a rare and expensive material.

Bead Stringing Jewelry Arts

Getting Into Jewelry Arts through Bead Stringing

When beginning any new hobby or craft, it is often best to start slow and allow yourself a chance to grow into it at your own pace. The old saw recommending that one learns to walk before they run is applicable in a number of crafts. New Craft projects which are too difficult or involved and become frustrating are soon dropped or left behind. Perhaps the simplest and easiest way to get involved with jewelry making and the world of jewelry arts is in the field of bead stringing. For the most part, bead stringing involves working with a variety of pre-made beads which are polished and ready to use with the holes already drilled so that they are ready for use. Stringing of beads typically involves running a thin metal wire or nylon filament string through the holes in the beads to assemble a necklace, bracelet or anklet. The piece is finished by adding some sort of clasp piece at each end which allows the loop to be opened and worn.

This simple craft of bead stringing has become tremendously popular, and bead stores offering a huge variety of materials have sprung up all across the United States. The stores offer hobbyists interested in the art of bead stringing virtually everything they could possibly need in the practice of their craft. These types of stores are found in most larger cities as well as mail order businesses based on providing service through the Internet. While there are some exceptions, most of the materials are comparatively inexpensive. The affordability and ease with which one can take up this hobby has made it literally assessable to everyone. The beautiful products which can be so easily created are what have made this craft so explosively popular.

Beads are available in natural materials that range from inexpensive to very valuable beads made of precious materials such as high-quality natural Emerald. A variety of metals are available from shiny but inexpensive chrome through copper and silver to 14 karat gold. A large number of inexpensive man-made materials, such as glass or painted ceramic are also available. Various objects, including crystals, seashells, coins or other items can be used in the center of a necklace or bracelet as a focus piece. The vast number of potentials and possibilities are dizzying.

This indescribable variety allows the bead stringing hobbyist to create an infinite number of patterns and associations in the jewelry crafts with which they create their works of art. All that is really needed is an eye for design and some patience to assemble the beautiful jewelry piece envisioned in the design stage.

In the last decade, literally thousands of folks have gotten into one aspect of bead stringing or another. For many of these folks it is become more than just a simple hobby or craft, but an artistic passion. For some it is even become a significant business opportunity as they are able to sell some of the beautiful pieces which they produce. If you are interested in starting a jewelry related craft, bead stringing may well be the very best place to get started.

Design and Make Your Own Jewelry

Design and Make Your Own Jewelry

Good quality jewelry is beautiful to own and wear, and jewelry making really is an art form. For centuries, this art was protected and handed down from father to son through various apprentice programs. The necessary knowledge was withheld and kept to a small number of specialists. Things are far different in our time – and various jewelry equipment suppliers and gemstone sellers have done all they can to make things easy for individuals to try for themselves. The necessary knowledge is now easy to acquire. If you have any artistic flair or talent, there is no question that you can make your own, special art pieces to wear. When you make your own rings, pendants and other items, there is no question that your jewelry becomes very sentimental. You can also produce unique items different from anything that might be seen is a standard, commercial store. There is also little question that you can save some significant money by making your own adornments.

Many folks are intimidated by the skills which they imagine are needed. Certainly some craft skills need to be learned, but not all jewelry skills are hard to learn or take massive amounts of equipment – some are really fairly simple. This is why many folks have taken up crafting their own adornments as a hobby. Most start out with beading, but there are whole worlds of gemstone work and metal smithing that interested individuals can grow into. It is very possible to start out small and grow into purchasing equipment and supplies as your knowledge, interest and skills increase. In fact you can learn the basics about the skills involved on this website. The pages are not, by themselves, sufficient to teach you all you need to know, however they will give you the flavor of what is out there. They will also give you an idea on how difficult that skill is and what tools are needed. There are also books are available to help you learn.