Gold Jewelry Exposed – What’s The Difference Between 18k Or 24k

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Author: Susan Lee

Pure gold is a heavy, flexible, and soft metal that’s been used in trade for many thousands of years since the early human civilization. It continues to be one of our most prized possession and a beautiful accent to any jewelry piece. Words like wealth, beauty, sophistication, authority, royalty, and power come to mind when thinking about gold.

What makes gold particularly attractive to the personalized jewelry-makers of the world is that it is a very stable material that is easy to work with and at the same time it does not rust or tarnish over time. But, before you spend your money on a beautiful piece of gold jewelry, it is important to understand the differences between different types of gold and how to select the right piece at the right price.

The first thing you need to know about gold is that gold jewelry is rarely created out of pure gold because pure gold is soft and not very durable, not to mention very expensive. To improve gold's durability other metals are commonly added to the metal creating more of an alloy. Such metals as zinc, nickel, and copper are commonly added to pure gold before it is made into jewelry to boost its durability and strength. This also has an impact on the color of the finished pieces giving it a more metallic appearance that is customarily recognized as the color of golden jewelry.

Since these other types of metals are significantly cheaper than gold, there must be a way to describe the "purity" of the resulting material in estimating its value-- that’s where the term "karat" comes into play. Karat is a measure of purity of a material and it ranges from 1 to 24. When talking about gold, 24k gold would be the purest form of gold without any additives and 1k would be the least pure form containing very little gold.

When shopping for a piece of gold jewelry, pieces with a higher karat weight would be considered more valuable than pieces with a lower karat weight. However, pieces with a lower carat weight would also be more durable.

To find the right balance you need to consider the purpose of your Italian charms and how you intend to wear it. For example, while a 10k golden necklace could be quite sufficient as a more casual piece, you most likely wouldn't consider 10k gold to be sufficient for something as personal as a wedding ring.

Generally speaking, for significant pieces you are looking for at least 14k or even 18k gold. While 14k gold provides a nice balance between value and durability, 18k gold gives you additional value for those truly meaningful jewelry pieces in your life.

While it is quite possible to purchase 20k jewelry and higher, keep in mind that these types of pieces are not as durable. Also, you will notice that the color of the metal gets more yellow as you go up in karat weight and that might or might not be what you have in mind. Whichever way you decide to go with your next jewelry purchase, understanding gold karat weight and what it means will make it easier to make the right decision you can be very happy about.