Thursday 27 August 2015

Everything You Should Know About - Bullion

The word 'bullion' has a very simple definition: a refined and stamped weight of precious metal. It is also used to refer to a metal piece shaped in the form of a coin or a bar. The word bullion comes from the old French word bouillon, which meant "boiling".

Bullion refers to precious metals in bulk form which are regularly traded on commodity markets. The value of bullion is typically determined by the value of its precious metals content, which is defined by its purity and mass.

To sum it up, the phrase “gold bullion”simply means gold in its purest form, valued by its weight and quality 99.9 pure, plus the small percentage costs incurred in refining, fabricating, and shipping that bullion to you.

A range of professional participants are active in the bullion markets: banks, fabricators, refiners and vault operators or transport companies as well as brokers. They provide facilities for the refining, melting, assaying, transporting, trading and vaulting of gold and silver bullion. Bullion investments can be considered as insurance against inflation. Buying gold bullion is now cheaper and easier than ever before. And it's still, by a long way the safest way to own gold.

Bullion


DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOLD BULLION

Gold Bullion Bars

If you’re serious about investing in gold, bullion bars provide a great way to efficiently purchase large quantities, and they’re pretty easy to store. However, there are some significant drawbacks. Gold bullion bars can be difficult and costly to liquidate when you’re ready to use and/or sell them. Also, while they do come in a range of sizes, they tend to come in larger sizes than coins, making them less versatile. Overall, they’re more appropriate for serious gold investors.

Gold bullion bars can weigh anything from a few grams upwards. 1kg and 100 oz ( Approx 2.83kg) bars.

Gold Bullion Coins

Bullion coins are cast from precious metals and bought for investment purposes. The only real difference between coins and bars is that coins have a different shape (coin shape, obviously) and are smaller. The value of these coins is whatever the current market price for gold is, plus a small amount to cover production costs. Since they’re smaller and already in usable form, coins are easier to liquidate and use than bars. Because of their versatility, gold coins are a good way for beginners to venture into the world of gold investing.

Well-known examples of Bullion coins are :

  • British Sovereign   
    British Sovereign

  • Canadian Maple Leaf     
    Canadian Maple Leaf

  • American Golden Eagle   
    American Golden Eagle

  • South African Krugerrand  
    South African Krugerrand

When to Buy

The simple aim of buying bullion is to buy when prices are low and sell when prices are high. However life and the markets are never simple or easy to predict. As we see, precious metals are best regarded as a long-term investment: so if you are able to buy during a slight dip in price that is good, but it is hard to call every turn of the market when considering how to buy gold.

Where to Buy
Investors can buy bullion gold through gold bullion dealers, online shops or providers of vaulted gold.

How to Sell

It is important to invest with a supplier that has a transparent, liquid market for buying back bullion at favourable rates that do not disadvantage the holder. Beware of offers of ‘all-in-one’ pricing where you cannot relate the deal to market rates.
You will often discover that companies, who sell bullion to you, particularly in the case of bars, will discount the market price by only 2% or 2.5% if you bought it from them.

Cost

Their value is based on their bullion content and prices fluctuate daily. In general, costs for the production of bullion gold coins are higher than the costs of producing bullion gold bars. Bullion gold coins are typically minted, whereas bullion gold bars are cast.

Both bullion gold bars and bullion gold coins are normally sold at a low premium or mark-up above the value of their gold content as compared to non-bullion gold such as collector coins or ornamental gold bars, also called investment bars.

Make a leap into the exciting world of Gems & Jewellery industry. Get Certificate in Gold Appraisal at Solitaire Diamond Institute.


Article by
Krupa J.S
CAD Designer, SDI

Friday 21 August 2015

Rare Pink Pearl- “The Conch”

The tale of ‘The Pink Pearl’ is sure to be an inspiration to all who love both the pearl and the sea. Conch pearls (pronounced ‘konk’) are natural pearls created by the Queen Conch, a saltwater mollusk. Conch pearls are far more rare than the finest natural Akoya pearl. Attempts to culture them have failed thus far, as a result it remains one of the rarest pearls in the world, and therefore are considerably more expensive.

Conch pearls are one of the most rare and valuable of all natural pearls. It has been estimated that approximately 1 in 10,000 conch produce a pearl and of these only a few possess the color, shape and flame pattern necessary to be considered a gem.

Color & Structure
Conch pearls often exhibit a flame-like pattern due to concentrically arranged calcium carbonate platelets in a lamellar fashion. Flame structure is found mostly in the salmon, pink, and red toned pearls. This significantly increases the value and price of the conch pearl.
Conch pearls contain no nacre, so technically they are not actually pearls at all. Instead, the gems are calcareous concretions. Conch pearls and nacreous pearls have the same chemical composition the only difference between them is their polycrystalline structures.
The principal determinant of value for a conch pearl is its color as well as shape, size and flame vibrancy. Although many tend to be orange, yellow, beige or ivory, enough are pink for these pearls to have been known as "pink pearls" in the trade.



Size, Shape & Care
Most conch pearls have an elongated, oval, or baroque shape, and occasionally they will create a button or round. Round specimens are very rare. Conch pearls weigh significantly more than oyster pearls, with a specific gravity of 2.85; and unlike other pearls, are sized by carat weight. Although conch pearls can be found over 100 carats, larger sizes (above 5 carats) of conch pearls are uncommon, with the average size being less than 3 carats.



Due to the high value of conch pearls, drilling and/or gluing should be avoided in the mounting, as this will devalue the pearl. Prolonged exposure to sunlight (ultraviolet light) can have a dulling and fading effect. Indoor lighting does not seem to have effects on the pearls. Because its an organic gem, therefore, jewelry should be used with care.

To learn more about diamond designing courses visit Solitaire Diamond Institute Bangalore.


Article by
Krupa J.S.
CAD Designer, SDI

Friday 14 August 2015

RICHEST TEMPLES OF INDIA IN TERMS OF GOLD…..

India is the world's biggest consumer of gold and its ancient temples have collected billions of rupees in terms of jewellery, bars and coins over the centuries.. Every year thousands of visitors frequently visit these religious places. Its not a bribe but a token of respect, faith and belief.
Lets know about the richest temples of India.


1. Padmanabhaswamy Temple

Padmanabhaswamy Temple is located  in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The richest of all the temples in India. Recently in June 2011, a committee of 7 members opened a chamber A and found tonnes of gold coins, jewellery, sacks of diamonds and other precious stones lying untouched from thousands of year.

With the estimated Rs 1 lakh crore worth of wealth that was found to be kept under underground stone cellars, but if Rs 1 lakh crore floored you completely, there are claims that suggest the actual worth of the assets could well be above Rs 5 lakh crore.




2. Tirupati Balaji Temple

The second richest of all the temples in India.Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) receives 80-100 kg of gold and 100-120 kg of silver as offerings every month. "Tirupati has a treasure trove of Rs 70,000 crore in the form of gold bars, coins and jewellery”.It deposits the gold in banks to earn interest.very day close to 70,000 devotees visit Tirupati Balaji temple. Karnataka exminister Gali Janardhan Reddy, for instance, had offered a diamond-studded crown worth Rs 42 crore to the God.
More than 12,000 kg of gold, ornaments and other precious jewels and 11,000 kg of silver worth over Rs 50,000 crore is already offered by a devotees till now. The 8-feet black-coloured main idol is loaded up with at least 65-70 kg of gold ornaments every day and it is estimated that in a single day offerings to the Lord ranges between Rs 80 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore.




3. Shirdi Saibaba Temple

he famous pilgrim centre of Shri Saibaba temple in Shirdi, one of the richest temples in Maharashtra, has ornaments and jewellery worth over Rs 32 crore and investments running into Rs 4,27,17,02,929 crore, according to official documents. And also it has Rs 47,82,31,835.64-crore as Trust Corpus Fund.

The temple trust has ornaments and jewellery including Gold worth Rs 24,41,10,640-cr, Silver--Rs 3,26,19,152-cr; Silver coins-- Rs 612,317; Gold Coins--Rs 1,28,89,749-cr and Gold pendants worth Rs 1,12,31,903-cr.



4. Siddhivinayak Temple

The two-century-old Shree Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai devoted to Lord Ganesha. The dome over Ganesha is coated in 3.7 kilos of Gold. It is one of country's richest temples, on an average the per year income of the temple goes up to 48 Cr and fixed deposit os Rs 125 Cr. Having amassed 158 kg of gold offerings, worth some $67 million, and its heavily guarded vaults are strictly off limits.



5. Vaishno Devi Temple 

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board caters to second largest pilgrim batch after Tirupti. It is one of the oldest temples in India, located near Katra, Jammu &Kashmir.The average estimated income per year is believed to be somewhere around 500 crore.



To learn more about online jewellery designing courses Bangalore visit Solitaire Diamond Institute Bangalore.


Article by
Krupa J.S.
CAD Designer, SDI