Gold has fascinated one and all especially women.

The definition of chain is as simple as interlocking links of metal. If the metal happens to be precious metal, then we consider the chain jewellery. Gold has fascinated one and all especially women of different eras who adorned themselves with gold with an air of pride and luxury.

Precious metal chain for jewelry has been around for a long time. The glow of gold never faded from the eyes of the people and so do its use. There are several evidences that show the traces of gold being used all over the world in ancient times.Basically when man first began working extensively with gold back in Neolithic times he found that certain metals, most notably pure gold, were extremely ductile and could be hammered and stretched to a great degree.

Historically, gold was a rare metal, which only the wealthy could afford. But the gold rushes to California and Australia in the mid-19th century ushered in a new dimension of gold supply. Chain making has always been, up until the middle of the 18th century, a labor-intensive time consuming hand operation.They coincided, too, with the development of machinery for making chain and other articles, and of a much wider consumer market. It was a well-versed art and most books on jewelry will demonstrate basic techniques on making chain by hand. In the 20th century, gold jewellery has become affordable for most people in Western society.

The Sumerian Civilization which occurred in the present day Iraq used to make gold jewelry in the form of earrings, bracelets, rings and other ornaments dated back to 2500 BC. In Egyptian civilization, gold had the same importance as that in the Sumerian Civilization with the only difference; in Egyptian civilization it was the pharaohs who were entitled to use gold jewelry. It is very amazing to know that the then Sumerian goldsmith used sophisticated metalworking techniques such as cold hammering, casting, soldering. They were well versed in decorating with filigree, practiced granulation, nothing but the minute drops of gold that was added to a jewelry piece to make it look more beautiful.

Attitudes to jewellery still vary throughout the world. In the industrial countries, for example, gold jewellery is primarily a fashion item. The famous tomb of Tutankhamen which bears testimony of this fact, where numerous pieces of fine gold jewelry embedded with precious stones was found.But in the Middle East and much of Asia, gold ornaments are seen equally as investment; 22 carat articles are bought on a low mark-up of only 10-20 per cent over the gold price of the day, and can be traded in at a profit if the price rises or, as is more often the case, for new articles.

As world wars one and two ravaged Europe, many of the craftsman immigrated to America, taking up residence in the Providence area of Rhode Island, which was the center of the American jewelry industry at the time. Being difficult to work with and destructive to tooling, very little platinum chain was made until recently. The gap for a white metal chain was filled in with white gold (which may have been rhodium plated) or silver.