If you like a lot of intricate work you might want to stick with the harder 18K and 12K gold. I have bought some very fancy gold-lace rings of 21 and 22K gold for female relatives in the US and they were a problem. Just sticking your hand in your pocket will crush the gold lace. Unfortunately, there are very few jewelers in the US that have the materials or the patience to fix it.
The stuff in Thailand tends to be bracelets and necklaces of 24K gold and they do well enough. If they get bent or deformed for some reason, they can usually be straightened by hand. The necklaces tend to be measured in “baht.” One baht is 15.4 grams of 99.9 gold. Most chains are 5 or 10 baht. I love the color and feel of it, butter-yellow and very “massy” feeling.
The larger pieces in the Middle East are either made in Italy or are what I call “barbarian bracelets,” huge chunks of almost pure gold.
If you like a lot of intricate work you might want to stick with the harder 18K and 12K gold. I have bought some very fancy gold-lace rings of 21 and 22K gold for female relatives in the US and they were a problem. Just sticking your hand in your pocket will crush the gold lace. Unfortunately, there are very few jewelers in the US that have the materials or the patience to fix it.
The stuff in Thailand tends to be bracelets and necklaces of 24K gold and they do well enough. If they get bent or deformed for some reason, they can usually be straightened by hand. The necklaces tend to be measured in “baht.” One baht is 15.4 grams of 99.9 gold. Most chains are 5 or 10 baht. I love the color and feel of it, butter-yellow and very “massy” feeling.
The larger pieces in the Middle East are either made in Italy or are what I call “barbarian bracelets,” huge chunks of almost pure gold.
Joan Lunden has that tv progarm about “Behind the Scenes” or something. She got shown around De Beers, and the showed the De Beers people dictating to the wholesalers how much they would buy this quarter. It’s this kind of ting that has gotten them branded a monopoly by the FTC, and banned from the States. If you want to buy from them, you will do as they say, period.