What is a Gold Karat?
Most gold that is used for jewelry purposes is in fact a gold alloy. This means that pure gold is mixed with other metals such as copper, silver or palladium. Pure gold is referred to as 24 karat (it is important to note that when buying jewelry from outside of the US or Canada this word is spelled carat), this means that it is 100 percent or 24 parts gold. The most common gold karats used in jewelry are: • 22 karat (22 parts gold, 2 parts other metal) • 18 karat (18 parts gold, 6 parts other metal) • 14 karat (14 parts gold, 10 parts other metal) • 10 karat (10 parts gold, 14 parts other metal) There are many other karats and variations, with jewelers in different countries having their particular favorite gold karat to work with.
