Karat or karatage
July 15th, 2008 at 7:17am |
The term Karat, when applied to gold, means the gold’s purity.The karatage of the jewelry will tell you what percentage of gold it contains: 24 karat is 100 percent, 18 karat is 75 percent, and 14 karat is 58 percent gold. When comparing gold jewelry, the higher the number of karats, the greater the value.Because pure gold is naturally a soft, malleable metal, it is alloyed with other elements to strengthen it, which in turn can affect its color and cost. Much of today’s gold is mixed with a percentage of alloys – metals that modifies the color of gold and makes it harder and stronger.
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