I don’t know why people are so keen to dismiss aesthetic value of gold as somehow not being relevant as a functional use.
We don’t just use gold for jewellery because it’s valuable, we also use it for that because it looks good. Better than many other materials we could use.
Now you could argue that we only think it looks good because it’s valuable, and maybe that is how it came about, but I think it’s been embedded into the culture deeply enough that gold as a material looks great to us on it’s own merit at this point.
Aesthetic value is real value, as we can tell due to peoples willingness to pay for artistic objects even if made from cheap materials.
That's a good point, and I think there are many civilizations that have used gold only for its aesthetic value. The Incan empire had ornaments, statues, etc., in pure gold, yet they didn't use it as currency. One of the emperors gifted the Spanish conquistadors a big room full of gold, as a token of friendship. It all went downhill from there.
That's because aesthetic value is intertwined with the value coming from "it's valuable". If aesthetic value dominated, fake gold would be much closer in price than it actually is.
The value of gold being embedded in society is similar to the value a dollar bill derives from being embedded in society. It's valued because it's valuable, which really means it's a reflection of values coming from other sources, and not something on its own.
I'm hardly an expert on gold aesthetics, but I would have guessed you could get all or nearly all gold's aesthetic properties from other cheaper materials. Like what's the cubic zirconium of gold?
Gold is a noble metal; bts low reactivity and stability make it excelent as a material to have in constant contact with the body.
I am allergic to most metals, and only highest purity surgical stainless steel, surgical titanum, and noble metals can come in constant contact with my skin without generating rashes. I can only wear piercings made of surgical titanum, gold and platinum.
Gold is extremely ductile, malleable, and is very easy to amalgamate, alloy, and mix with other metals.
This and other minor properties, plus the aesthetic factor, is what makes it the best material for jewelry; it's extremely easy to work with, it's safe to use, it won't react under normal circumstances, degrade or get ruined by time.
I don't know any alloy that has similar properties that isn't either super expensive, has a different color, or io hard to worx with.
We don’t just use gold for jewellery because it’s valuable, we also use it for that because it looks good. Better than many other materials we could use.
Now you could argue that we only think it looks good because it’s valuable, and maybe that is how it came about, but I think it’s been embedded into the culture deeply enough that gold as a material looks great to us on it’s own merit at this point.
Aesthetic value is real value, as we can tell due to peoples willingness to pay for artistic objects even if made from cheap materials.