What is the different Gold Standards?

More than likely the piece of jewelry that you have is marked by the jeweler with 18K, 14K, or 10K on it. Karat is the system used to describe the percentage of pure gold an item contains and is marked by "K". The higher the karat number, the higher the percentage of gold is in the gold jewelry. Here is what the different type of numbers mean: * Pure gold is 24K. * 18K gold is actually made up of 75% gold. It contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of one or more additional metals. * 14K is considered to be 58.3% gold and contains 14 parts gold and 10 parts of one or more additional metals. * 12K gold which is 12 parts gold and 12 parts of one or more additional metals, is actually only 50% gold. * 10K gold is 10 parts gold and 14 parts of one or more additional metals. It is also the minimum karat that can be called gold in the US at 41.7% gold. Gold jewelry so popular people can wear it and jewelers can make it many unique ways. For example, cost for some gold jewelry is kept low by mechanically applying a coating of gold onto a much less expensive metal. The thicker the gold layer is, there is less of a chance for it to wear away and expose the boring metal underneath. * Gold filled jewelry - Recently made gold filled items contain markings indicating how much and what type of gold was used. For example, if one of your rings reads 1/20 12K G.F., it means that it is at least 1/20th 12K gold by weight. * Gold plated jewelry - The layer of gold used in gold plated jewelry is normally thinner than gold filled jewelry, and in turn wears away much more quickly.