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Frequently Asked Questions |
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Gold has been popular for millennia for its brilliant
shine. The fact that it does not corrode, tarnish or
rust is great too. It is a rare element and its price
reflects that. Being a soft metal, it is also easy to
work with. |
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Mixing
gold with other metals makes it harder, cheaper and
different colors depending on what other metals are
used. |
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Not to be confused with “carat,”
“karat” refers to the purity of the gold. 24K (karat)
gold is 99.999% pure gold. 18K is 18/24 or 75% gold and
25% other metals. |
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Neither is better than the other.
18K gold is more expensive due to the higher gold
content. Because it has more gold, it is more yellow.
However, the extra gold also makes it softer. A setting
made with 14K gold will hold stones a little better
because the 58.333% of other metals stiffens it.
Ultimately, it comes down to your personal taste |
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Your item is real gold. Its karatage
is stated on the item description. If the karat stamp
happened to be on the portion that was removed when your
item was resized, the karat stamp will be missing. The
stamp could also be missing if the manufacturer of the
item rushes manufacturing and skips the stamping
process.
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There
are some tests you can perform on the gold to test it.
First being a visual inspection.
When you look at the gold, are there any black, silver or
other color blotches in it? When you hold the gold item,
does it feel heavy? Has the karatage been stamped on it?
The following table will show you the common locations
of the karatage stamp.
Another test you can do is the acid test. Gold is the only
yellow metal that does not react with nitric acid. 10K
gold or less may react to this test due to the low gold
content. Test kits are available at jewelry supply
stores. The test usually involves rubbing a miniscule
amount of the metal on the supplied paper and putting a
drop of the acid on the paper rubbings. If the color
does not change, it is real gold.
A third test you can do is the price test. If the price is
too good to be true, it probably is. To figure out the
value of your gold, you need to know the current market
value for gold, the gold ounce weight and its karatage.
The value can be calculated as:
value = (weight in ounces) x (gold market value) x
(karatage/24)
For example, if the price of gold is $900 per ounce, and
you are looking at a 22K gold pendant that weighs 1/4
ounces, the formula would be:
value = (1/4) x ($900.00) x (22/24) =
value = (0.25) x ($900.00) x (91.667) = $206.25
The price can be higher for workmanship or branding, but
if the asking price is $100, you can be sure that the
pendant is not 18K gold or even real gold. |
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24K gold is yellow and yellow only. Gold can be mixed with
other metals to create other colors. The following chart
shows what combinations of other metals are used to
create the different colors of gold.
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Bright Yellow |
22K |
91.6 % gold |
8.4% silver or copper |
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Bright Yellow |
18K |
75% gold |
15.5% copper |
9.5% silver |
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Bright Yellow |
14K |
58.5% gold
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29% copper |
12.5% silver |
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White* |
14K |
58.3% gold |
23.5% copper |
12.2% nickel 5.97% zinc |
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Deep
Green |
18K |
75% gold |
25% silver |
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Deep Pink |
18K |
75% gold |
25% copper |
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Deep Pink |
18K |
75% gold |
25% aluminum |
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Blue** |
18K |
75% gold |
25% iron |
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Black** |
14K |
58.3% gold |
41.7% iron |
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Purple** |
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70.5% gold |
5% tin |
1.5% thorium |
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*
White gold is often coated with Rhodium to mask
any yellow tints.
** These are hard to work with and are rarely
found in jewelry. |
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Platinum is a relatively new precious metal to the jewelry
field compared with gold. The qualities of platinum are
similar to gold in that it will not corrode, tarnish or
rust. However, platinum is very hard compared to gold
and silver. It is usually mixed with iridium which makes
it difficult to work with. |
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Platinum is expensive because it is rarer than gold. It is
also heavier than gold, making jewelry of the same size
weigh more. It is also more difficult to work with due
to its high melting point and rapid setting. Annually,
only about 133 tons of platinum are mined, compared to
1,782 tons of gold. |
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The other metals used with jewelry are:
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Rhodium |
Used to plate white gold and platinum to give it a
more silvery appearance. |
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Iridium |
This is alloyed with platinum to make it harder. |
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Palladium |
Items are alloyed with this inexpensive and
lightweight metal to reduce cost. |
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Ruthenium |
This is occasionally alloyed with platinum to make
it harder. |
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Osmium |
This is the hardest known metal and is rarely used
in jewelry. |
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