Gold Jewelry

Gold jewelry never goes out of style, and for good reason, because gold is as wearer-friendly as it is beautiful. Sometimes people have allergy or staining problems with metals that are combined with gold, but the gold itself is rarely a problem.
Gold can be manipulated nearly any way the artisan desires.
How Pure Is Your Gold Jewelry?
The higher the karat number, the higher the percentage of gold in your gold jewelry.
24K gold is pure gold.
18K gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 75% gold.
14K gold contains 14 parts gold and 10 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 58.3% gold.
12K gold contains 12 parts gold and 12 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 50% gold.
10K gold contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 41.7% gold. 10K gold is the minimum karat that can be called "gold" in the United States.
European gold jewelry is marked with numbers that indicate their percentage of gold, such as:
18K gold is marked 750 to indicate 75% gold
14K gold is marked 585 for 58.5%
10K gold is marked 417 for 41
Why Are Other Metals Mixed With Gold?
You'll find examples of pure gold jewelry, but pure gold is soft and isn't practical for daily wear. Adding other metals to the mix also allows metallurgists to change the color of gold. Palladium or nickel can be added to create white gold. Even though it's a gold alloy--18K, 14K, or anything down to 10K--it can be called solid gol
Gold Filled Jewelry
Newer gold filled items have markings that indicate how much and what type of gold was used for the layer. Gold Plated Jewelry
The gold layer in gold plated jewelry is typically thinner than the gold in gold filled jewelry, so it usually wears away more quickly. If you have allergies to nickel or other metals, choose items that have high gold content, such as 18K or 22K gold jewelry.
Gold filled or plated jewelry is suitable for jewelry that you wear occasionally.