 | Jerry Burnell has been a driving force in the jewelry industry of Kansas for the past 30 years. Jerry is a native of Wichita and a graduate of Wichita State University. He jokingly says that he had a degree in business, almost a masters in business, almost a degree in chemistry, with heavy studies in physics, math, and biology and he just quit college, that he figured that with 239 credit hours he should be able to make a living somewhere. Actually he was already deep into the motions of starting the most respected jewelry design team in this part of the country. Jerry is highly regarded and considered an expert in many fields, three of which are Precious gemstones, jewelry manufacture, and jewelry design. Jerry is presently president of The Kansas Jewelers Association and holds a position on the advisory board of Jewelers of America. You may contact Jerry at Burnell’s Jewelers, (316) 634-2822, or find Burnell’s Jewelers on the web at www.burnells.com |
Gold, Silver, Diamonds & Jewelry
1969-12-31 18:00:00
Why gold is...good as gold?
What makes gold so precious and valuable?
ANSWER: Why gold is "good as gold" is an interesting question. Dr. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, said that "our fascination with gold might be related to the erotic fantasies of early childhood." However, we think that the more pragmatic ancient Egyptians were perhaps more accurate in observing that gold's value was a function of its pleasing physical qualities and its scarcity. Pretty simple, no? Another way to appreciate its scarcity is to compare it to the annual steel production in the United States. According to the Iron and Steel Institute in Washington D.C., the American industry poured an average of 10,500 tons of steel per hour during all of 1995! Please appreciate that's 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. That's a lot of steel. In sharp contrast, the world's annual gold mine production increases the total holdings by only 2.0 percent per year. That's an average increase in the world's gold supply of a mere 2,000 tons per year, versus 10,500 tons of American steel per hour. Gold is indeed very rare. Since ancient times, gold's beautiful luster allows it to be designed into the world's most coveted and exquisite jewelry. Jewelry that is fit for kings or queens. And today, certainly one of the most desired of all the metals for beautiful jewelry creations for all of us. There are many physical aspects of the yellow metal which are truly amazing. Gold is the most malleable (able to be hammered into very thin sheets) and ductile (able to be drawn into a fine wire) of all metals. Gold is so malleable that a goldsmith can hammer one ounce of gold into a thin translucent wafer covering more than 100 square feet only five millionths of an inch thick. That's thin! It would be so thin that 1,000 sheets would be needed to make up the thickness of one newspaper page. Its ductility is equally amazing. One ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 50 miles long! Moreover, only one ounce of this marvelous metal is required to plate a thread of copper 1,000 miles long. Gold is also one of the heaviest metals known to exist. It has a specific gravity of 19.3, meaning it weighs 19.3 times as much as an equal volume of water. Therefore, one cubic foot of gold weighs 1,206 pounds. More than a half ton! This probably explains why there has never been a large armed robbery of gold bullion throughout history. Who could carry it out of the storage facility, and how would you do it? More unbelievable than its physical characteristics is its scarcity. It is well documented that the world's holdings accumulated during all recorded history to the present is only about 120,000 metric tons. Understandably, it is rather difficult for the average person to relate to this measurement, to actually picture it in one's minds eye. Suffice it to say that the total world's hoard of the shiny metal will occupy a single cube 60 feet by 60 feet by 60 feet - which is equivalent to the approximate volume of three 12-room homes. This is indeed a small volume of matter to have influenced the toil and destiny of so many people since biblical days. In fact the total world's holdings of the rare metal could be transported by a single solitary oil tanker! That's if Lloyds of London would ever accept the insurance risk on this priceless cargo. The value of this load of gold would be approximately $1.4 trillion! Some information was researched from the World Wide Web. Interesting stuff, huh? More next month...Happy Valentines Day!
