Several materials are used to design ornaments. Initially, copper ornaments were used in ancient civilizations. Then bronze and brass jewelry became popular. With the discovery of gold and silver, designing and wearing jewelry became an expensive affair. Yet the charm for ornamentation continued to grow. In addition to gold and silver, pearls, platinum, and diamonds are also popular materials used in jewelry design. That said, gold continues to remain the sought after material for ornaments. Fascination for gold jewelry has only grown over the centuries.

Even so, gold is expensive to purchase. People who aren't rich usually can't afford to acquire many pieces that are made of pure gold alone. That's why other metals are often mixed in with the gold in jewelry, to stretch the gold further and reduce the price without affecting the visual impact of the ornaments.

The amount of additional gold in an alloy made of gold and a less costly metal is measured by a unit called carat. If you go to a jewelry shop, you can see a number and a sign for carat marked against each ornament. 24 carat depicts pure gold whereas 18 carat gold means that the ornament is made of an alloy that contains 75 percent gold and 25 percent of some other less precious metal.

It is very difficult to make 24 carat gold ornaments because gold is a malleable but weak material. Because of its low tensile strength, small pieces can chip off from an ornament made out of pure gold. Only gold biscuits or coins made of almost pure gold are available for buyers. Other than these, you will have to choose from the alloyed gold jewelry.

If you are somebody who does not have a fortune to splurge on gold jewelry, do not be disheartened. There are several ways you can buy jewelry that looks equally good, if not better, than 22 carat jewelry. One way is buying semi precious jewelry that marries semi precious stones such as ruby, sapphire, and emerald with 14k jewelry.

You may also go for silver jewelry that has been plated with gold. This looks similar to jewelry made from gold. If the quality of gold plating or polish is good, it becomes extremely difficult to tell the difference with the naked eye.

Several materials are used to design ornaments. Initially, copper was used in ancient civilizations. Then bronze and brass became popular. With the discovery of gold and silver, designing and wearing jewelry became expensive. Fascination for gold jewelery has only grown. If you are not one of those people who can expend a fortune on gold jewelry, don't be dismayed. There are a variety of ways to buy jewelry that looks just as good as the high end merchandise. One way to do this is to buy semi precious jewelry that combines semi precious stones like sapphires, rubies, and emeralds with 14k jewelry.