Jewelry Tips: Precious metals are all about the setting. What about the gem? Overstock.com has a variety of loose diamonds available at very reasonable prices. These stones can be set in any jewelry you already own.

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Jewelry Tips: Precious metals are gold, silver or any of what are now called the PGM or “platinum group metals” (platinum, iridium, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium and osmium); all others are “base” or ”industrial” metals. “Precious” refers only to their use in jewelry; many “base” metals are extremely valuable to industry. For example, copper is a monetary metal, used in coins for millennia, and rhenium’s value is nearly ten times that of gold, but it’s so rare the entire output is committed to industrial use. Likewise, precious metals have industrial applications. Only two-thirds of gold mined and less that forty percent of silver becomes jewelry or coins. The rest goes to electronics, photography, medicine or elsewhere.

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Jewelry Tips: Purity is always an important question when buying precious metal. Purity is generally described in “fineness” or parts per thousand. The standard is 999 fine or 99.9 percent pure.

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Jewelry Tips: Recycled metals: According to the environmental nonprofit WorldWatch Institute, 80 percent of destructively mined gold is used for jewelry. Look for recycled gold, silver, titanium and platinum and other recycled materials, like glass and leather, used in more casual pieces.

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