History of the Metals

Silver - Live Science ( Credit )

Silver's history is long. The first evidence of Silver mining dates back to 3000 B.C., in Turkey and Greece, according to the RSC. Ancient people even figured out how to refine Silver. They heated the Silver ore and blew air over it, a process called cupellation. The Silver does not react to the air, but the base metals such as lead and copper oxidize and separate from the precious metals.

Gold - Focus Economics ( Credit )

Gold was generally used for a couple thousand years solely to create things such as Jewellery and idols for worship. This was until around 1500 BC when the ancient empire of Egypt, which benefited greatly from its gold-bearing region, Nubia, made gold the first official medium of exchange for international trade.

 White Gold - Gold Presidents ( Credit )

Although the origin of white colour Gold dates back to 1710, where it was discovered by two alchemists in Germany, it wasn’t used widely until much later. White Gold as we know it today was really popularised in the 1920s. Although it might seem strange, this luxury material came to popularity in wartime, it actually came about because of the popularity, utility, and scarcity of Platinum. 

Platinum - The Natural Sapphire Company ( Credit )

As with the history of Gold, the history of Platinum begins with the ancient Egyptians, who, more than 3,000 years ago, created Gold Jewellery with traces of Platinum.  The Gold was not alloyed with Platinum intentionally however; it was more likely just a natural component of the ores the Egyptians imported from Nubia.