JEWELRY

Are Olympic gold medals made of gold? Yes, but they haven't been solid gold for almost a century. The medals are designed by the Olympics Committee in each host city, but the designers have to follow a few minimum guidelines:

• all medals must be at least 60mm in diameter and 3mm thick
• gold and silver medals must be made from 92.5 percent silver
• gold medals must be plated with at least six grams of gold.

Some medals for recent games have been larger. Like the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. The gold and silver medals awarded there were the heaviest ever created, measuring 85mm in diameter and 10mm thick and weighing in at 20 ounces.

Sterling Silver Facts

Gold Karat Weight Facts

_{Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images}

Are Olympic Gold Medals Really Made of Gold? originally appeared on About.com Jewelry / Accessories on Monday, February 6th, 2012 at 08:05:00.

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It's almost that time again - time for the Super Bowl. It would be bad luck for teams to look at potential ring designs now, but you can bet that ring companies are busy developing unique designs for both teams, and will present them to the winning team as soon as possible after the February 5th game.

Super Bowl rings get larger and more intricate (read: gaudy) every year (compare the Steelers' recent bling ring, shown here, with the one-diamond design awarded after the first game in 1967).

Super Bowl Rings Photo Gallery

_{Photo © Jostens}

Pictures of Super Bowl Rings originally appeared on About.com Jewelry / Accessories on Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 21:03:52.