A chemical element that has amazing physical characteristics, gold is extremely well suited for use in jewelry making. Although gold is the most malleable of all metals, gold is so durable that it is virtually indestructibleand does not corrode. Gold can be re-melted and used again to create new designs.

Gold remains as the most popular choice for wedding rings and engagement rings, and is equally popular in dress rings, earrings, pendants, necklaces and bracelets.

There are two primary considerations when looking at gold. First; which gold karat to choose and second, the gold color or the combination of gold colors that are available.

Gold Carat

10k, 14K, and 18K and in some cultures 22K are the variety of available gold karats.

Karat represents the gold content of the metal. The karat measures the proportion of pure gold mixed with other metal alloy to make up the final metal.

The karat of gold is represented in many countries by the abbreviation 'K' or 'Kt'.

You may notice that carat or 'ct' is also used to measure the weight of diamonds and gemstones. Although the same name is used, the two measurements are measuring different characteristics of jewellery. In addition the measurement for gold uses a 'k' for 'karat' as opposed to the 'c' in 'carat' for diamonds.

The higher the proportion of gold used in the final metal, the more valuable and expensive the metal becomes. All other things being considered equal, an 18kt ring will be more expensive than a 14kt ring, and a 14kt ring will be more expensive than a 10kt ring.

10kt gold contains 41.7% pure gold (417 parts pure gold per thousand parts)

14kt gold contains 58.5% pure gold (585 parts per thousand parts).

18kt gold contains 75% pure gold (750 parts per thousand parts).

The remainder of the metals is made up of a combination of alloys, different metals which can help to give the metal its unique appearance, such as a different color.

Jewelry is normally stamped with a marking to show the type of gold.

For 10kt gold the stamp will normally be either the number 417 or 10K.

For 14kt gold the stamp will normally be either the number 585 or 14K.

For 18kt gold the stamp will normally be either the number 750 or 18K.

The karat stamp only indicates the karat of metal. It provides no indication as to the color of the metal. For example an 18kt yellow gold ring would have a stamp of 750 as would an 18kt white gold ring.

Suitable for use in all types of fine jewellery, 10kt, 14kt and 18kt gold are each relatively hard. When choosing jewellery, particularly rings, many people consider the hardness and durability of gold to be used in their ring.

The Vickers scale is what is used to measure metal hardness. Therefore, harder metals receive a higher Vickers score than less hard metals.

 

Gold Colors 

   

White gold is an alloy of gold and some white metals such as silver and palladium.

Nickel used to be the primary choice of alloy mix for white gold, however most white gold today no longer uses nickel as it can cause reactions with some people.

When white gold rings are new they can be coated with another white metal called Rhodium. Similar to platinum, rhodium also shares many of the properties of platinum including its white color.

Rhodium plating is used to make the white gold look whiter, because the natural color of white gold is actually a light grey color. Rhodium is very white and very hard, but it does eventually wear. To keep a white gold ring looking its best it should be re-rhodium plated approximately every 12 months.

As each gold color contains the same proportion of pure gold, all gold colors with the same karat weight when measured on the Vickers scale have the same Vickers score.

There can be a difference in color between the different karats of gold.

18kt yellow gold is more yellow than 10kt yellow gold with 18kt yellow gold having a richer golden color making 18kt yellow gold a more popular choice of yellow gold than 10kt for ladies engagement rings.

10kt white gold and 18kt white gold have a similar white color due to the rhodium plating finish.

The following are your three main considerations when trying to decide between the gold karat types.

1. The metals performance with every day wear
   
2. The difference in color between the 10kt, 14kt and 18kt gold
   
3. The difference in price between the gold karats.

18kt generally holds up to everyday wear better than 10kt and tends to look better than 10kt as it ages over the years. This is a primary reason why 18kt is normally preferred for ladies engagement rings rather than 10kt.