GOLD KARAT

Understanding the concept of gold karat when applied to gold:

One karat is 1/24 pure, so 24 karat is pure gold. In other words 24 karat would be 100% gold or pure gold.

In 18 karat gold jewelry, there are 18 parts of pure gold and 6 of another metal (18/24 = ¾ = 75% pure gold).
In some cultures, 24 karat gold jewelry is required for certain jewelry pieces but its generally agreed that 24 karat gold is too soft for jewelry use.

In some parts of the world, 18 karat is preferred because of its brighter yellow color and it is considered purer and more precious.

In the US, 14 karat or 18 karat gold is preferred because it is more durable.

In Europe, the percentage of pure is indicated by a number representing how many parts out of a total of 1,000 parts of pure gold.
One thousand parts is equivalent to 24 karat. 18 karat would represent 750/1,000 = ¾ = 75%.

Here is a table indicating the different gold karat markings around the world.

Gold Marks

American Marking (Karatage) karat	Pure Gold Content (Fineness In Percent)	European Markings
24k	100	1000
22k	91.6	916
20k	83	833
19k(used in Portugal)	79.2	792
18k	75	750
15k(used in Portugal)	62.5	625
14k	58.5	585
12k	50.0	500
10k	41.7	417
9k	37.5	375

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