What Does Karat Mean In Gold

Explaining All The Different Karats Of Gold

There are 7 total different karat numbers used to label gold. From 9 up to 24 karats, gold can range from 37.5% to 99.9% purity. However, most countries dont recognize gold under 12 karats, or 50% purity, as real gold. The karat number on gold also tells you the items purity, as well as the parts of gold out of 24 and the millesimal fineness. Heres every gold karat number you might see explained:

• 24-Karat: 24K gold is 24/24 parts gold, promised to be a minimum of 99.9 percent pure. It has a fineness of 999, but can also be .9999 in some cases.

• 22-Karat: 22K gold is 22 parts out of a total 24, or 91.7 percent gold. Its millesimal fineness can be written as 916 or 917.

• 18-Karat: 18K gold is 75% pure gold, or three-quarters precious metal. The fineness of 18-karat gold is 750.

• 14-Karat: 14K gold is 14/24 parts fine gold, or 58.3%. 14K gold can also be recognized by the numbers 583 or 585.

• 12-Karat: Exactly half of a 12K piece of gold is made from the metal, with a millesimal fineness of 500.

• 10-Karat: Only 41.7% of 10K gold is the precious metal, fineness 416 or 417. 10K gold is 10 parts out of 24 pure gold.

• 9-Karat: Barely a precious metal at 357 fineness, 9K gold has a purity of 37.5 percent.

What About White Gold

To make “white gold” jewelry, Pure Gold is mixed with white metals such as Silver & Palladium. The karat of White Gold follows the same pattern as Yellow Gold, with 18K White Gold containing 75% gold, 14K White Gold containing 58% and 10K contains 42%.

The key to White Gold is Rhodium-plating. Remember, Pure Gold is a deep yellow color, and even when it is mixed with white metals it needs an extra kick to make it “whiter than white”. To give White Gold a real shine, the jewelry is coated with a very white metal called Rhodium.

What Does 18k Gold Plated Mean

There is no doubt that women love jewelry, but today also more and more men decide to wear for example gold bracelets of different kinds. The choice is really great, so everyone can get themselves a piece of nice jewelry that will match their style and price range. However, for centuries gold accessories have been appreciated the most, and nowadays golden rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets are still very popular among customers around the world. But all those products offered by sellers has different assays, and most of us do not realize what they mean. That is why, we have decided to answer the very common question, constantly asked by buyers, which is: what does 18k gold plated mean?

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What Does Karat Mean In Gold

Have you ever wondered what is meant by a karat of gold? Are you new to the process of shopping for gold jewelry and other items and you are unsure of how to assess the quality of gold? Have you ever asked yourself why does the presentation of a 14 karat or 18 karat gold piece get people so excited? What do these numbers mean?

If you are completely in the dark on this subject, you need not be so any longer. The meaning of karats in gold is no great mystery. Below you will find what you need to know.

How Many Karats Is Pure Gold

Pure gold is 24 karat, meaning that 24 out of 24 parts of the metal are gold. Although the terms sound familiar, the karat system used to measure the purity of gold is different from the carat unit of mass thats used to weigh diamonds.

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What Does Karat Gold Mean

Precious metals are often bonded with other materials for a number of reasons. When this happens, the metal is no longer pure. You can buy 100% pure gold, called fine gold, but this soft metal isnt durable enough for many purposes. Gold can be alloyed with harder base metals to create a product which has all the benefits of precious metal, but much stronger than pure gold.

Karats are a system used to measure the purity of gold, and to tell buyers and investors exactly how much of the precious metal theyre getting. Gold karats range from 100% purity to only smaller quantities of gold, so theres a big variation in what you might come across. In this article, were going to teach you about recognizing different karat of gold, as well as the symbols we use to label precious metals.

Whether youre shopping for a new piece of gold jewelry, or want to make a new investment into bullion, you need to know what gold karat means. Theres no single type of gold used for all jewelry, and gold coins have all sorts of purity levels. When diving into the wonderful world of silver and gold, the best preparation is to be informed. So firstly were going to explain what exactly karats are.

What Is A Gold Carat

A carat – when used to refer to gold in Australia, the UK and elsewhere – is a measure of purity.

The purest gold is 24 carats, but when it comes to making useable objects and gold jewellery, 24ct gold is generally considered too soft. This is why gold is often alloyed with a metal like copper or silver which makes it harder and better to work with and wear. This alloying process reduces the purity, but makes the gold more useable.

A single gold carat is 1 part of a possible 24. So 18 carat gold is an alloy of 18 parts pure gold and 6 parts of another metal . So 9 carat gold has 9 parts gold plus 15 parts of another metal.

You’ll also see the word ‘carat’ used in relation to gemstones, in which case it’s a measure of mass rather than purity.

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What Karat Is Pure Gold

If youre a lover of gold and interested in building a high quality collection of jewelry, your first thought may be if pure gold is how many carats, where can I buy this and what will it cost? The answer is tricky. 24 karat gold is the purest karat of gold you can buy, since it is made of 100% pure gold. No other mixed metals are found in 24k gold. This is why karats are measured on a scale out of 24, since 24 is the pure gold standard amount. However, 24 karat gold isnt often used to make jewelry because of its softness and delicacy. 24k gold doesnt have any alloys or other mixed metals, which makes it an impractical material to craft jewelry. This is why when crafting jewelry its important to have other alloys and mixed metals combined.This is what creates the durability of gold jewelry, making it long lasting and resistant to tarnishing. Heres a brief history lesson about the backstory of this karat grading system. In medieval times, the purest gold coin produced was known as a mark. This mark coin weighed 24 karats. It was quickly discovered that the material of the mark was extremely soft and delicate. This was how 24 karat gold was discovered as 100% pure gold. 24 karat gold is 100% pure gold, and that is what karat is pure gold. In our article specifically about 24k gold, we provide more information about what 24k gold is, and why it is the purest karat of gold.

Formula: How To Find Gold Content & Dollar Value Of 9 Karat Gold

EXAMPLE: 9K DIVIDED BY 24 EQUALS .375 .

375 MULTIPLIED BY $1288 EQUALS $483

$483 DIVIDED BY 20 EQUALS $24.15

$24.15 x .643 equals $15.52 per gram

Production fee for average small gold chain is $2.20 pergram at todays price 20-10-2010 9k chain would cost $17.72 per gram.

This is ex factory cost

Large gold chain production cost $5.00 per gram plus profitmargin

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What Is Gold Karat

When people buy gold jewelry in the store, the seller often describes it in terms of karats . The gold jewelries are made with different karat, such as 10 karat, 12 karat, 14 karat, and 18 karat. High karat gold jewelries are more expensive. Well, what exactly does the “karat” mean?

What is the karat?

Karat is a unit of purity for gold alloys, rather than weight. The word “karat” is from the carob seed, which was used as balance scales to measure the weight of gold in ancient Asian bazaars.

What is Gold Karat?

Since the pure gold is too soft to make exquisite jewelries. Therefore, the gold jewelries are almost alloy which are mixed with other metals, such as silver, copper, or zinc. Pure gold is 24 karats. A unit karat of gold is equal to 1/24 part . The gold karat shows how many parts of gold and how many parts of other metals in a gold jewelry. The following chart shows the differences between the different karats, and also shows the percentage of gold and other metals.

What’s the difference between Karat and Carat?

We are often confusion over the differing use of “carat” and “karat”. The Karat is a gold unit for purity, and Carat is a unit for mass which is used for measuring the weight of gemstones and pearls . However, carat and karat are usually used interchangeably in some countries.

How to test the purity of gold?

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Which One To Choose

So, if you are searching for some regular wear ornaments, opt for an 18K jewelry piece. It goes a long way in terms of durability.10K gold is the most common type of gold used in Europe and Asia. After frequent use, it may scratch and show a decreased lustre as it is less resistant than a 14K gold.A 14K gold is 58.3 percentage of gold and is a favourite in the Western world. It is also often known as 583 gold although we prefer to call it by its simple and chic name, 14K. In the same tone, 18K gold can also be referred to as 750 gold in accordance with the percentage of gold in it.

Karat Gold Understanding Gold Purity

When searching for gold jewelry we have all come across karats used to describe the quality of a piece. Most of us know that the higher the karat, the more expensive it will be. But what actually is akarat? What do the numbers all mean? What are the stamps on a gold piece?

Here is guide to understanding karats and their meaning.

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Is 24k Gold The Best

After understanding the karat system, youll understand that 24 karat gold is pure gold. Initially, you may believe this means 24k gold is the best possible option. After all, purity seems to be a good thing – not only will the piece be more attractive and more sought-after, but it will also carry bragging rights, correct?

Not necessarily. While it is the highest karat gold possible and while gold is a beautiful substance, it comes with a lot of disadvantages.

For starters, gold is soft. Despite being dense, and therefore considered a heavy metal, gold is remarkably malleable and easy to work with. This makes it an ideal material for jewelry in some respects, because it can be fashioned into any shape easily, but it can also result in weakness. Wearing 24k gold jewelry can leave it vulnerable to scratching, bending, warping, and other forms of damage. For a piece of jewelry to be practical, it needs to be able to retain its shape and remain attractive for a long period of time.

Malleability and softness are just the beginning. Pure gold is also very bright. If you picture pure gold in your head, youre probably thinking of a gold alloy. The true color of pure gold is both brighter and more orange than what most people picture. Accordingly, it makes for unattractive jewelry in many cases.

That said, 24k gold is possibly the worst option for an engagement ring or other piece of jewelry its too soft, too bright, and too expensive to be worthwhile.

What Do The Stamps Mean

Whilst it is possible come across some pieces of gold that are not stamped with purity, most gold,especially jewelry, will come stamped with what is known as a “hallmark” as a reference. Mostauthentic gold jewelry is stamped with some form of number or letter to indicate its karat and goldcontent. There are some common ones which can be helpful to understand when looking at goldthat make up the vast majority of the gold stamps.

Authentic gold jewelry should have a stamp to indicate the purity of the gold in the piece. This markcan be in several different formats. For example: 585, 14kt and 14K all mean 14 karat gold. All ofthese formats are easy to understand, except possibly the 3 digit number format.

There are also three digit numbers tell how pure the gold is as seen in the table above. They aremeasured in the thousandth, so if you want to know the purity percentage, just move the decimalpoint in one space. For example: 750 is 75.0% pure gold .

Other stamps that can be included on gold pieces can indicate whether a piece has been plated withanother metal or not, e.g. GE, which stands for Gold Electroplate. This means that the base of apiece is made of one metal, usually brass, and a certain thickness of gold has been deposited on thebase, giving it a gold plating.

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How To Use Karats To Measure Gold Purity

Knowing the number of karats is key to calculating the gold content on your own. Here is how to use the number of karats to figure out how pure your piece of gold is.

Say you purchase a ring that is 14K gold. Since the number amount of karats you can have is 24K, divide the 14 Karats by the 24. You will get .583. This means that the gold is 58.3% pure.

How Many Karats Is Gold Plating

Gold plated jewelry is jewelry made from base metal and then covered in a thin layer of the more expensive material. This is a much cheaper option than solid gold jewelry, however, it isnt very durable or valuable. Most people dont consider gold plated items real gold because the gold content is so low. The actual plating of gold plated jewelry is made from pure gold, but the layer is only a few particles thick. Technically the material is 24 karat gold, but gold plated jewelry has zero karats.

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Understanding Gold Purity: 9k 10k 14k 18k 22k And 24k

Many of us, at one point or another, will shop for gold in the jewelry department of a department store or in a jewelry store.

If you’ve ever gone shopping for jewelry, you are probably familiar with the word karat as applied to gold. The higher the karat, the more expensive it will be. But have you ever wondered why? The short answer is that higher karats mean more gold, but theres more to it than that.

What does it all mean? And what is all of that fine print stamped into your piece of gold? What are karats really? How do you know how pure that gold really is? This article will answer these questions and more.

What Is A Carat

Contrary to popular belief, carat doesnt measure the size of a diamond or other gemstone. You measure a gemstones size in millimeters according to its diameter. Instead, carat measures the weight of the gemstone. One carat equals 200 milligrams. The higher the carat size you choose, the higher price youll pay. This price can rise significantly as the carat size increases, and the increase isnt on a linear scale.

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Which Karats Are Most Affordable

Here in the US, the Federal Trade Commission is responsible for setting the rules regarding karat value markings on jewelry. Under its regulations, all gold jewelry that is 10-karats or greater must be stamped with a K or Kt. When you are next shopping for gold jewelry, look out for these stamps so you know youre buying real gold.

What do karats mean in terms of value? Youve probably already guessed but the amount of gold used in a piece of jewelry will greatly impact its value. The higher the gold content, the more you should expect to pay.

For example, 10-karat gold is less than half gold, as it is made up of 10 parts gold and 14 parts copper or silver. This will make it less expensive than an 18 karat gold piece, which is 75% gold.

18-karat gold

18-karat gold tends to be the purest gold jewelry available and is therefore much more expensive than jewelry containing lower karats like 14 and 12. It offers the perfect balance between strength and purity. 18-karat gold is often used for diamond and other precious gemstone jewelry.

14-karat gold

14-karat gold is also considered very good quality, however, it is a little more reasonably priced than 18-karat gold. It is the most popular choice for wedding and engagement rings, as it is fairly durable and does not scratch easily. Well let you into a little secret most people have a hard time telling 14-karat and 18-karat gold apart, so you may be wise to save your money and go for the slightly cheaper option!