| Details of what is gold and how or why Gold Jewelry
is made in different Karats:
Gold: Gold is a type of Precious metal whose chemical
symbol is AU
Temperature: The melting temperature of Gold is
slightly lower than that of copper at 1945 ° F or 1063 ° C ( Iron is
2802°F and Copper is 1981°F )
Specific Gravity: of gold is 19.32 Density:
One cubic inch of pure gold weighs 10.18 troy ounces. Weight: Gold
for Jewelry purposes is weighed in Grams, Pennyweight (DWT) or Ounces
(troy) 1 Troy ounce is equal to 31.10348 grams or 20 DWT (pennyweight) 1
DWT (pennyweight) is equal to 1.555 grams or 0.05 troy ounces. Karat: The
most popular jewelry made in gold is 10 karat,14 karat, 18 karat and 22
karat gold Jewelry.
Purity: The purest form of Gold
considered 24 karats is equal to roughly 99.9 percent purity
Karat: When we say 24kt or 24k Gold jewelry, we
mean that all the 24 parts in the gold are just pure gold without traces
of any other metal(s) or 99.9 percent pure. When we say 22kt or 22k Gold
Jewelry we mean that 22 parts of the jewelry, is gold and the balance 2
parts are some other metal(s) or equal to 91.3 percent gold plus 8.6
percent of some other metal alloy When we say 18Kt or 18k Gold Jewelry, we mean
that 18 parts of the jewelry is gold and the balance 6 parts is some other
metal or equal to about 75 percent gold plus 25 percent of some other
metal alloy We can roughly state that each Karat is equal to approximately 4.1625
percent. The difference of the other metal or alloys of the metal, gives
the jewelry its hardness and color. We can state that 24 Karat is the
softest and 10 karat the hardest, because 10kt would have 41.6 percent
gold and the balance would be other metals which are mostly harder than
gold.. The color from the other metals enhances
the beauty of the jewelry as the case may be, white gold, yellow gold, red
gold etc.
Density: Gold has much higher density
compared to other metals which are used as alloys, so the higher the
purity of gold the heavier the weight of gold jewelry. For example a chain
of same thickness will vary in weight if made in different karats of gold,
it will be the lightest in 14kt and heaviest in 22kt gold, because 14kt
has 58.3 percent gold compared to 22kt which has 91.6 percent gold.
22 karat gold : Being 91.3 percent in purity and hence
very soft and malleable, very intricate designs of gold jewelry with beautiful intricate designs can be
made in 22 karat gold. Although soft compared to other metals, the
22kt gold jewelry does not get easily damaged, and can be worn for years,
and still maintain its luster and beauty. Note that most gold jewelry
whatever the karat value does not get damaged by wearing, but rather gets
damaged or broken by storing it improperly, jewelry when properly stored,
in original boxes, and cleaned at regular intervals, will rarely break,
damage or lose its luster and beauty.
Carat : Carat and Karat are not to be confused,
Carat is not a percentage, it is rather a measure in which gemstones are
weighed, the word carat was derived from the carat seeds which were once
used for measuring as they were mostly constant in weight. 1 carat or ct.
is equal to about 200 milligrams or about 1/5th of a Gram. For example
a huge
5 ct. pc of diamond would be just 1 gram in weight. (that is the reason
why our precious and semiprecious stone gold jewelry is expensive compared
to plain gold jewelry)
KDM: Gold Jewelry from some places is / was
marked with a KDM stamp which means that the Jewelry was
soldered with Cadmium. Cadmium called 'Kadium' in
some places and marked KDM was traditionally used in soldering
of gold jewelry for its good properties of liquidity and melting
at lower temperatures, which is not the case any more as Cadmium
is known to create toxic fumes when melted, which are very
dangerous to health, over a period of time and may be harmful to humans,
making the gold jewelry, some
countries have banned the use of Cadmium from use, from
workshops. Jewelers in many parts of the world now use gold
solders, which are free from Cadmium. Please note that the
wearer of the gold jewelry is not harmed, this issue only
concerns the manufacturing process. Also note that using any
type of gold solder either KDM (Cadmium) or other gold solder,
to make the jewelry does not guarantee the purity of gold, as
the purity is a representation of the percentage of gold in any
metal.
Gold Colors and finishes: Pure 24 karat
gold is Yellow in color, when the purity is lowered, by adding different
alloys, the color of the gold can be changed to reflect the color of the
alloy. i.e. if we were to convert 24k gold to 22k gold we would be adding
about 8.4% alloy, which would now make it 91.6 percent pure (22 karat). The
addition of alloy has various purposes, one is to give it hardness, to make
the gold jewelry stronger, as pure gold is very soft, the other would be to
change the color, e.g. if copper would be added to alloy then the gold would
appear reddish, instead of the yellow or if any of the white metal was added
to the alloy it would make it appear white. This is not to be confused with
the finishing, which are just on the top surface of the jewelry, which are
mostly different types of hand paints or coatings, used like paint on the
surface to enhance just the look, e.g. to give it an antique look, underneath
the paint or coating, it would be solid yellow gold. |
