What is a Karat?
Karat is a unit of measurement for the purity of gold, indicated with the symbol ‘k’ or ‘kt.’ Pure gold is 24 karat (24k) and is usually too soft to be used in jewelry. Most jewelry pieces are a mixture of gold and other metals such as copper, silver, zinc, or nickel. The higher the karat, the more gold. A 10k jewelry piece is about 42% gold, a 14k jewelry piece is about 58% gold, and an 18k piece is about 75% gold. Outside the US, the fineness of gold is measured on a scale of 1,000. An 18k gold piece is labeled with a 750 Eurostamp. A 14k gold piece is labeled with a 585 Eurostamp. A 10k gold piece is labeled with a 417 Eurostamp.
You have likely owned a piece of jewelry or described that piece of jewelry by mentioning its number of karats, but do you really know what that means? The term originated from ancient Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries that used carob seeds to measure the weight of gold. Today, ‘karat’ is how we describe the weight of gemstones and the actual purity of our gold. Being that gold is the softest metal in existence, it is commonly combined with a stronger alloy, such as silver or copper, to make it useable in the form of rings, necklaces, and other common jewelry. The term ‘karat’ identifies the percentage of pure gold to alloy in that piece of jewelry. The chart below shows the fineness (amount of gold parts per 1000) and the percentage of gold for the most common karat levels: Karats – Fineness – Percentage Gold 24 ———- 1000.0 ——– 100.00 22 ———– 917.7 ——— 91.67 18 ———– 750.0 ——— 75.00 14 ———– 583.3 ——— 58.30 10 ———– 416.7
It is a common misconception that a karat is a unit of weight. A karat (k. or kt.) is actually a unit of measure for the amount of gold contained in an item. Other metals (such as copper, nickel, silver and zinc) are often added to gold to create a gold alloy. Gold is a soft metal, and the addition of other metals makes it harder and more durable.
