Gold Chain Repair
Gold Chain Repair
Gold chain repair is the obvious answer when your old chain is broken. Often the clasp needs repairing, or occasionally a link will break. In most instances these are easy repairs, and in the UK we think nothing of going to a jeweller to get this sorted out.
However, this is not always the case in other countries, and some chains and other pieces of gold jewellery are so intricate that the first reaction on breakage is not to have a gold chain repair but to consign it to the melting pot!
Gold chain repair is a job that really should be done by professionals, because whilst it is a relatively simple soldering task, it needs practice to get a job that is invisible and as highly polished as the original gold.
Some people are happy to rely on a clasp to secure the chain, but it is important to ensure that the clasp is up to the task. However, a common gold chain repair is to make the gold chain a continuous one. Whilst this is a secure way to wear a chain it is important to remember that as soon as the chain is continuous it no longer has a weak point to break open and so release in the event of the chain getting caught on or in an object. Despite gold being a soft and ductile metal, once they get over 3mm in diameter they are surprisingly strong! You could be strangled by your own chain!
Sizing is an important consideration not only to ensure that the chain passes over your head, but also that once positioned it sits at the correct position on the neck, high enough not to be hidden by clothing and low enough to adopt the correct shape and curve.
Is a gold repaired chain weaker?
If done properly, gold chain repair will be almost invisible to spot. It will, however, always be weaker than the original metal. It is not unusual for breaks to recur in the same position as the original fracture. This is not an Indication that the jeweller is a poor craftsman, it is simply a fact of life. With this in mind it is always a good idea to check with the jeweller that the chain is fit for use, for example, that the chain will be strong enough to carry a heavy pendant or cross.
Gold, cholesterol and cancer
Gold is now seeing a new role, and that is in its microscopic role when treating illnesses. It has already been used to good effect in electronics, where nano-particles are finding increasing new uses, but a new area is the use of gold for drug delivery and in the detection of cancer.
It has been shown that gold can trick some cancer cells. These cells prefer to eat a type of cholesterol called HDL cholesterol. The cells eat the gold nano-particles rather than the HDL cholesterol. The gold nano-particles then block up the entry of the good cholesterol and so the cell starves to death.
The cholesterol-fighting molecule can also destroy cancerous cells. The organic compound exhibited anti-cancer properties in human samples, both outside the body and in an injection into mice. In these cases, proteins that cause tumours to grow were destroyed, leading to aggressive cell death.
Gold as an alternative cancer treatment
Gold has been used in other ways to counteract cancer, and it has been found that an injection of microscopic gold pellets will hold back prostate cancer in men. The new surgical procedure involves placing three gold grains in the prostate organ. The position of these gold grains is targeted accurately by X-rays to within one or two millimetres.
Colloidal treatments have also been used; additionally to study the body’s temperature regulating mechanisms. This is particularly useful when investigating hot flushes, chills and night sweats. This colloidal medium seems to have a balancing effect on both the body and the mind. It has been seen ;to improve mental attitude, to increase energy and willpower, enhancing mental concentration and acuity.
It seems to do this does this by increasing the conductivity between the nerve endings in the body and also the nerve endings on the surface of the brain.
The use of gold and its compounds is called Chrysotherapy. It has been practised since 1929 in France when its anti-inflammatory properties were discovered to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Scientists are unclear how it works, however it may be that the treatment, injected as Myocrisin, modifies the immune response to those disease sufferers.