Do You Know How Many Colored Alloys Gold Comes In?

Ever since before the beginning of recorded time gold has been considered a valuable and highly sought after substance. People the world over have lived and died and spent their entire lives immersed in one way or another in all that glitters. Whether a financier in the hallowed halls of The City in London or a South African laborer chained by the ankle to a mining site, gold has held mankind captive and captivated since our earliest memories of humanity on earth. There are stories on stone tablets written in Cuniform, the language of the Sumerians telling about the precious metal and how it was sought out and used by our ancient ancestors of prehistory. I wouldn't mind owning this 294 troy ounce Alskan gold nugget. I wouldn't even mind being chained to it by the ankle or around the neck! That's 18 pounds of pure gold!

It's often been said that one ounce of gold can buy a good man's suit and whether back in the 1930's or today, this still holds true in our world economic structure. Let's face it, gold holds its value and is the all time haven for safe investment whether through the purchase of bullion coins, mining stocks or jewelry. I'm sure you most likely already know all of this and if you do and still don't own at least a little bit of gold in your portfolio or in your jewelry box you're either watching too many hours of The Real Housewives of Atlanta or from another planet! Take the quiz to see which "Real" Atlanta Housewife you are!

But how much do you really know about how gold is made? How does it get from 24 Karat pure gold to 10 Karat and did you know there are at least six different colors of gold jewelry? It's never too late to find something you like made from gold. The prices can go from ridiculous to the sublime for jewelry, but there's nothing like it when you hold it in your hand. The magic is always present. I never tire of having gold in one form or another near by. Boullion is my favorite but I'll take it in any form, any karat and any size, large or small!


I love to touch it and wear it and it makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Here's a few tidbits about karat gold and gold alloys to wet your whistle and help you know more about what you are buying.

Gold is a precious metal that is very soft when pure (24 Kt.). Gold is the most malleable (hammerable) and ductile (able to be made into wire) metal. Gold can be applied to things in the form of gold leaf or bent and formed into anything you can think of! Gold is alloyed (mixed with other metals, usually silver and copper) to make it less expensive and harder, thus more durable. The purity of gold jewelry is measured in karats. Some countries hallmark gold with a three-digit number that indicates the parts per thousand of gold. This system works in the following manner:

"750" means 750/1000 gold (equal to 18K) or 18K gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of another metal(s), making it 75% gold.

"575" means 575/1000 gold (equal to 12K) or 14K gold contains 14 parts gold and 10 parts of other metal, making it 58.3% gold.

"335" means 335/1000 gold (equal to 9/10K) or 10K gold contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts another metal(s), making it 41.7% gold. 10K gold is the minimum karat designation that can still be called gold in the US.

Alloyed gold comes in many colors:

• Yellow Gold = gold + 50% silver and 50% copper

• White Gold = gold + nickel, zinc, copper, tin and manganese or nowadays, the addition of palladium is added to make white gold. It's more expensive than nickle thus, white gold is usually higher priced in than the other colored golds used for jewelry.

• Pink (rose) Gold = gold + copper and silver. The more copper added the deeper and rosier the color.

• Green Gold = gold + high proportion of silver or cadmium

• Blue Gold = gold + iron

• Grey Gold = gold + 15-20% iron

Black Hills Gold Jewelry is a great example of mixed alloyed gold jewelry of different colors, usually yellow, rose and green gold all in one piece. Black Hills gold jewelry is a style of said to have first been created in the 1870's by a French goldsmith named Henri LeBeauold, who is said to have dreamed about the design after passing out from thirst and starvation. Black Hills gold jewelry depicts leaves, grape clusters and vines, and is made with a combination of green, rose, and yellow gold. The jewelry must be manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota in order to be called Black Hills Gold Jewelry. It's beautiful, fascinating and shows off some of the many colors.

See our website, Posh Adornment or our Posh Adornement Etsy Store for a great selection of gold and gold filled antique jewelry. We specialize in gold filled Victorian pieces, usually rose gold in color, and we often have solid gold pieces for sale to fulfill your fantasies and enrich your collection of fine jewelry.

Cameos Are Forever, Birthdays Come Once A Year!

It was Bryana's birthday a few days ago, and I'm a little late wishing her a Happy Birthday...but then again, she missed her due date by a couple days so I guess we're even. She is the co-founder of our Posh Adornment website and our Posh Adornment store on Etsy even though you don't see her much. She is the main support staff and holds all these many things we do together with her amazingly capable ability to do anything and everything. I don't tell her often enough, but she's really incredible!

Bryana is my first daughter... my only daughter and she's been a peach from day one...actually from before day one. Before the beginning Bryana was the perfect baby in utero and the perfect shopper. After she was born she slept through the night from the beginning, awoke with a gurgle and a smile and loved pretty clothes and jewelry from the git go. Always fashion forward and having great flair, she loved hats and set trends even as a youngun'. She began life at the mall...well, she began life a little before the mall but she spent her earliest days nesting in her nice little warm, dark place in my belly AND at the mall. There was one day in particular at the mall that has sealed itself indelibly into my memory when I was about 5 months pregnant.

It was cold and I was dressed for winter. Never liking panty hose or tights I struggled to get my maternity tights on twisting in ways that my swollen body would not allow and swearing as they kept twisting back on me so I had to continually yank and pull until they went all the way up. And then when they were all the way up, they weren't really all the way up. Because my belly wasn't yet big enough to fill out the kangaroo pouch at the top of the panty hose, they kept going beyond all the way up to the very top of my head. If I had been clever I could have wrapped a rubber band around the top of my head and used them as a cocoon or used them as part of my bank robber disguise but I wasn't that smart in those days.

But I was sort of smart and thought best thing to do was to roll the waistband down to just under my bra and pin them to the bottom of my bra to help them stay up. This was a mistake!

Bryana and I were shopping that day, me in my nifty maternity corduroy jumper, high fashionable winter boots, fur coat and rolled up or down panty hose pinned precariously to my bra. With every step I took the tights were pulling and threatening mutiny and I was left wondering if the girls would tumble out from the bottom of my bra and find a new home in the top of my rolled down panty hose or burst out the top of my bra and find no home at all! And to help matters along Bryana was looking around too checking everything out and making ready for when she could shop on her own. With every twist of her head my rolled panty hose shifted and twisted in sympathy and unison.

It was fortunate for me that I was standing in front of The Gap when the crisis happened. The ripping, whirring sound, the snapping and shussing when the delicate fabric of the tights ripped through the pins and at the speed of light, kept rolling down only to stop at my knees in a morbidly tight tourniquet of elastic and terror instantly disabling me and preventing me from moving with anything like a normal gait. I was finally a mermaid with essentially a tail and two feet attached. All I could do was stand there because when I attempted to walk my feet moved in tiny little circles and the rest of me tilted, threatening to fall flat on my face. Bryana, in the meantime was sqirming and wiggling, trying to get a look at it all from the inside out! You see her face here as she clings with every breath of life to the zip line in the tree tops in Costa Rica? That is not a smile, it is the look of abject terror. That is what my face looked like that fateful day at the mall and it must have stuck permanently in Bryana's memory banks and comes out in similar mortifying situations.

Back at the mall 25 years ago, you might be wondering why I felt it was fortunate to be at The Gap rather than say, in front of Barney's Coffee or a shoe store, no? I was mortified and managed to mince-waddle my way into the store where there were only young, skinny girls were working and begged them to let me use their bathroom. "I'm sorry we don't have public restrooms. There's a public bathroom on the bottom level of the mall." It was this comment where I began to perfect my red-nailed maniacal banshee routine you can read about in my story of my son's birthday here. After explaining my plight and actually lifting my skirt to show them what happened, one scrawny young thing took sympathy on me and helped me roll myself, flipper and all into their back dressing room where I was able to rescue myself. Shoving the girls back in their holding chamber and reattaching the cursed tights in a different and much more comfortable manner, I bought a baby outfit for Bryana and happily exited the mall for the day and went home.

In my haphazard and eccentric life there was always a reward for surviving incidents like these. My then husband and father of my child had a knack of coming up with the best ever jewelry that took away much of the pain and helped me forget my travails. I received this truly astounding, huge cameo which has always been one of my favorite pieces of jewelry and one I have never seen duplicated anywhere, ever. It measures 2 1/2" tall by 2" wide and is beyond fabulicious. Incredible detail and a gilded silver frame. It's also not for sale...soooorrrry!

But if you like cameos these beauties ARE for sale and can be found at our website Posh Adornment or at our site on Etsy.com under the same name, Posh Adornment. Just click the link to read more about them and while you're there have a look around, browse and enjoy our new site!

This is a large and very fine pin or pendant Cameo Of The Goddess Flora set in 14K white gold filigree.

These beautiful earrings are made from the lava of Mt. Vesuvius and are beautifully hand carved Victorian Cameos Of The Goddess Athena, goddess of wisdom. Set in finely detailed brass engravings and for pierced ears.

This is an Art Nouveau Moon Face Lady's Head Czech Cameo Pendant set in brass with an oak leaf ornamentation. Very beautiful, rare and unusual.

And a final HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY BRYANA. Love, mom

OMG It's SNOWING in Atlanta!

Well I'll be darned! It's March 1st and it's been in the 60's here all week but go figure! It's snowing here now! Comin' down like cats and dogs ...or should I say like groundhogs! We thought Puxatony Phil had lost his marbles this year when he saw his shadow predicting that we'd have another 6 weeks of winter, but sure as shootin' he's one smart ground HOG! Come to think of it I do remember the winter blizzard of 1993 which happened here in late March. Oh that was a great story that perhaps I'll revisit one day and put on the blog for y'all to have a good laugh over.

We're not going out in this yukky wet mess a combination of snow, sleet and rain, a.k.a. snaining and I'm busy getting ready to list a few more fabulous goodies today. Here's a quick peak at what's coming! But you can always find our items in either of our shops ... on our website Posh Adornment or in our Posh Adornment store on Etsy.

Think wedding, brides, and gorgeous vintage style when you think about these pieces...or just think about wearing them everyday. Can't miss jewelry! Enjoy!

RARE Antique Edwardian Clear Faceted Rock Crystal Vintage Necklace

Feminine Edwardian Amethyst Glass Festoon Swag Necklace

Stunning Amethyst Glass Gold Filled Vintage Drop Earrings