Understanding before Buying Solid Gold Jewelry
Solid gold pieces of jewellery really do not go out of style not only because they are wearer friendly but also because they are truly beautiful. Pure solid gold pieces do not react with other forms of elements to form tarnish. Tarnish is that residue that gathers on some metal forms before they stain your skin.
How Pure are Solid Gold Jewelries?
You may have noticed the ring on your finger is labelled 10K, 14K, or 18K. ‘K' is basically the system that is used in describing the percentage of pure solid gold that an item contains, and it stands for ‘karat'. The higher the karat number is, the higher is the gold percentage of the jewellery.
24K is pure solid gold while 18K gold contains eighteen parts gold and six parts of additional metal, thus making it seventy-five percent gold. 14K gold has fourteen parts gold and ten parts of additional metal, or only 58.3% gold, while 12K gold has only twelve parts gold and another twelve parts other metals, or only 50% gold. In the United States, 10K gold is the minimum weight that can be considered as gold.
Aside from the karat markers of pure solid gold jewellery, it should also be accompanied by a trademark that significantly identifies the maker of the jewellery. There are also instances in which the country of origin of the jewellery piece might be included.
Why is Gold Mixed with other Metals?
Pure gold jewellery is very soft, thus making it impractical for daily use. This explains why other metals are incorporated with pure solid gold to make it a lot durable and sometimes, less costly. Also, by adding metals to pure gold, it results to alloy. Generally, the term solid gold is used in describing items that are at least 10K gold all throughout. Even if a piece is a gold alloy, it can still be considered as a solid gold.
When applying for coatings, there are a number of ways on how to mechanically do this procedure to gold. This is done normally to a less expensive metal, which greatly reduces the cost of an item. The more think the layer of the gold is, the less likely it is to easily wear away and gradually expose the metal underneath.
Newer pieces of jewellery that are gold filled have markings that tell what type and how much gold is used for the layer. For example, if a marking says 1/20 12K G.F., it means that the item is 1/20th 12K gold by weight.
On the other hand, gold layers in jewellery that are gold plated are naturally thinner that the gold in pieces of gold filled jewellery. This simply means that the layers are more like to wear away easily.
Solid gold is very durable. This is then a better choice for jewellery worn regularly. However, if you are allergic to nickel, buy items with high gold contents like 18K or 22K gold.
It is better that you understand the basics of solid gold before you finally buy one so that you can have the right pieces at the right budget.
