Description
This beautiful pendant is made from a natural gold nugget that was mined in Alaska. It is a raw, real, solid gold nugget just as found in nature. Only lightly cleaned & polished to bring out its natural beauty. Gold nuggets from this area generally average between 20k - 22k, with some natural variation depending on the exact location of their discovery. The loop added to the top is 14k gold & I am including an inexpensive 18" gold-fill chain so it will be ready to wear. The pendant weighs 2.45 grams & measures roughly 8mm x 14mm including the loop on the top. Our pendants match nicely with our gold nugget stud earrings found here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SlabCreekDesigns?ref=search_shop_redirect§ion_id=17422571 ::Shipping:: All of my items ship for free within the U.S. & an additional $10 to Canada & select European countries (UK, Germany) For my customers outside of the U.S., please allow several weeks for delivery. Most orders that I send to Europe arrive within 7-10 days, but I have had a few overseas orders that have taken several weeks to arrive so please be patient & allow extra time. All orders will have tracking information so you can check on the progress of the shipment. ::About Gold Nuggets:: Only a tiny percentage of the gold mined today comes in the form of a gold nugget. Most gold comes from large mining operations process tons & tons of rock to extract only very fine gold, which is then processed & refined. Actual gold nuggets make up less than 0.5% of the total amount of gold mined from Earth. Most of the gold recovered is tiny flakes, specks, & dust. Much of it is so small that it can't even be seen by the human eye. The gold nuggets that I use in my jewelry are not found by large mining companies, but rather by small-scale artisanal gold prospectors. These prospectors use methods that are very similar to what the "old timers" used... gold pans, sluice boxes, etc. to exploring in creeks & rivers. These simple prospecting methods leave very little mark & have no negative impacts on the natural environment. ::The Gold I Use:: Since natural raw gold has not been refined, it's purity varies depending on the location that it was found. Most of the gold I sell comes from Arizona, Alaska, California, & Australia. Purity can range from 18k up to nearly 24k depending on location of discovery. Most are in the 20k to 22k range with other metals as natural alloy (mostly silver). Every single gold nugget that comes from the Earth is slightly different. I generally use the pieces that are of higher purity & interesting characteristics to use form my jewelry because they have a brighter color & make a nicer finished product. All of the components used with my natural gold jewelry is real gold, either 14k, 18k, or higher purity. This includes bails, jump rings, wire, anything else that attached to the gold nugget. This will be further specified in the description of each piece. The ONLY "non-gold" items that I have are the chains, which
