KARAT Gold refers to a solid gold item (or gold alloy), either shaped or casted into form of jewelry or Bullion Bars & Coins.
The karat system is used to disclose the percentage of pure gold found in a jewelry item to the customer. the higher the karat, the higher the gold content in the item.
Here are the most common KARAT markings:
24 karat gold - item is 100% pure gold (refiner's grade or bullion).
18 karat gold - item contains 75% gold and 25% another metals (used for jewelry).
14 karat gold - item contains 58.33% gold and 41.76% another metals (used for jewelry).
10 karat gold - item contains 41.66% gold and 41.76% another metals (used for jewelry).
6 karat gold - item contains 25% gold and 75% another metals (used for refining process called "inquartation").
1 Karat gold - item contains 4.16% gold and 95.84% another metals (use as reference).
Buying Tip:
Here is something jewelers will never tell you... by law, jewelry manufacturers have to meet the KARAT marking standards, but the law also allows them to diverge from the karatage standards for up to 1/2K (half of Karat) either up or down, needless to say, most of them exploit that fact. For example: a marked 14K ring may be actually be 13.5K.
