This beautiful chain is 19″ long and is made of natural gold nuggets linked together with 14 karat yellow gold loops and a 14k yellow gold claw clasp. We had to search through a lot of gold nuggets to find similar sizes, shapes, color and texture. The total weight of this handmade “Alaskan Chain” is 24.7 dwt / 38.4 grams, almost 1.25 troy ounces. We can add to the length of this chain if necessary, give us a call for more information at 1-907-278-8414.
On any given day, local gold miners will come into our shop throughout the year with the gold nuggets they mined that season. We look through their stash and choose the very best nuggets to make into jewelry. These are natural pieces of “placer gold” which means they are mined by sifting through the sand and gravel of ancient rivers and streams around Alaska and the Klondike. Finding gold nuggets in their natural state is very rare. In fact, gold nuggets make up only 2% of all gold that is found. These nuggets themselves will vary in purity from about 75% to 95% pure gold, or 18k-22k. Due to the fact that these pieces are completely natural, other minerals can sometimes be mixed in such as silver and platinum.
Most of the gold mined in the world is from “hard rock mining” where rock is crushed using big machines and small particles of gold are separated out. This is the most cost-efficient way to extract gold. The problem with this process is that it destroys these beautiful pieces of art. This means if stores like us stop buying this type of gold, this art will eventually be forgotten.
