All is Not What It Seems

In a past post, I wrote about how the 1854 gold standard was lowered. As a result of this change in the amount of gold required for jewelry to be officially 'gold', gold items became easier to make. Before that govenment issue however, jewelers creatively developed a way to make gold jewelry appear to have more gold than it did:

The following is from this site:http://antiquesshop.org/victorianjewlery.htm

The Romantic period (1837-1860) in Victorian jewelry was sparked by the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840. Since the supply of gold was inadequate at that time, thin sheets of gold were worked upon to impart the illusion of mass and size to the jewels of the early Romantic period.

It seems more research must be gathered in order to make a full understanding of what happened then. Time will tell!

Somethings on Gold that Happened in Victoria's Reign

From 1851 to the late 1860s, an Australian gold rush took place in the state of Victoria. In that time, Victoria was the largest exporter of gold in the world.

Early Victorian gold pieces could vary from 18 to 22 karat. Then in 1854, the Stamp Act was passed, which made gold content standardized at 9, 12, or 15 karats. It also made jewelry producers obligated to hallmark their pieces declaring the karat number.

Jewelers could then start to experiment with different types of casting, like chasing and granulation. Because the gold standard was less, gold jewelry was easier to buy. Hurrah for parliamentary change! It can make the economy grow!