REAL Gold and Silver?

It is not unusual to see seemingly good offers in the windows of jeweler shops.  You can get “Up to half price” discounts on silver and gold bracelets, rings and almost any kinds of precious metal jewelry. REAL GOLD! Pure silver! is the message. However, the gold is not real gold.

At least not in Norway where the current norm is 14 karat, ie the “gold” is a mixture of 585 parts gold and 415 parts silver, nickel, copper or whatever. 18 karat gold is 750 parts gold and 250 parts something else. Why such huge discounts? Because, the jewelers have priced the scrap gold at least six to ten times the value of pure 999,9 gold.

Not much gold

Anyway, this is your dilemma. If you buy jewelry, you pay for the design and in Norway 25% sales-tax to the government. The precious metal is probable the least expensive part of the grand total you shell out.

Silver is Dead Cheap
However, if you prefer the white metal, silver jewelry, don’t get fooled even if it is REAL SILVER! If you are offered STERLING silver jewelry, the silver is 925 parts out of 1000 parts, ie. almost pure. However, the salesperson has probably omitted a small detail. Silver is dead cheap, 6 NOK per. gram. (U$D 17/ounce 08.12.16).

Look at the Bright Side
Anyway, look at the bright side of gold and silver jewelry, Sometimes the design in itself is worth the money. So, give something beautiful to the one you love. It’s the thought and not the price tag which is important ;-)