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Take a look inside that gold ring. Do you see those tiny little numbers? Most likely your ring is stamped 10K or 14K, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself what those numbers mean and why they are there? In an effort to stop deception, the U.S. government has declared that all jewelry made with precious metals, like gold, be designated with the amount of pure gold used. This stamp essentially says that there are so many gold karats in your piece of jewelry and so many alloys.

What Is A Gold Karat?

A gold karat simply refers to the number of parts of pure gold compared to the number of parts of the alloys in any piece of jewelry. The word karat is a weight measurement not unlike milligrams; however, in ancient times gold was weighed using carob seeds as a unit of counter weight. That unit still remains today even though the system has become much more sophisticated.

Today, gold karat weight is a measurement of how many parts pure gold are in a given item. For this measurement, there are twenty-four parts, which means that anything stamped 24K is made up of twenty-four parts pure gold and no alloys. This is as pure as gold jewelry can get. But twenty-four karat gold can be very soft so care must be taken when it is worn.

Because of the softness and expense of gold, jewelry makers began blending alloys with pure gold to increase the durability and decrease the cost. Today, a consumer may purchase something that is 22K (92% pure), 20K (83% pure), 18K (75% pure), 14K (58% pure), 10K (42% pure), or 9K (38% pure). In each instance the number before the K indicates the number of parts of pure gold karats that has been mixed with an alloy.

Every time you buy a piece of jewelry, make sure that you check inside or underneath for the gold karat stamp, because without that stamp there is no guarantee that what you are buying is even as much as thirty eight percent pure gold. In addition to the gold karat stamp, there should also be a manufacturer’s stamp that indicates who created the piece you are about to purchase.

Today, there are a lot of rules that a jewelry maker has to follow. One of the most important of those is the guideline regarding gold karats and the stamping of jewelry. The bulk of these business owners are honest people working to provide a service for his or her community, as well as create something beautiful. However, there are some dishonest characters out there, so when it comes to buying jewelry be cautious and buy only from reputable businesses.