Without a doubt, Gold is
one of the world’s most
precious metals. It is also
a certainty that gold enjoys
an unsurpassed popularity
as a medium for jewelry expression.
Both jewelry artisans and
consumers alike are "in
love" with gold. There
seems to be no end to the
range of colors, finishes
and styles available and gold
remains a perennial favorite
setting for gemstones.
Gold can last forever, will
not corrode or rust and can
be found anywhere. Gold exists
in plants, rivers, oceans,
mountains, it’s nearly
everywhere but it is extremely
difficult and costly to extract
this amazing metal. Did you
know that a single ounce of
gold can be pulled into a
thin wire that stretches nearly
five miles long? An artisans
hammer can work that same
ounce into a very thin sheet
that can cover a 10ft x 10ft(100sq.
ft.) area. Also, it takes
nearly 3 tons of gold or to
extract a single ounce of
pure gold. Well if you didn’t
now you know!
Gold Basics
The word Gold, used by itself,
means all gold or 24 karat
(24K) gold. Because 24K gold
is soft, it’s usually
mixed with other metals to
increase its hardness and
durability. If a piece of
jewelry is not 24 karat gold,
the karat quality should accompany
any claim that the item is
gold.
The karat quality marking
tells you what proportion
of gold is mixed with the
other metals. Fourteen karat
(14K) jewelry contains 14
parts of gold, mixed in throughout
with 10 parts of base metal.
The higher the karat rating,
the higher the proportion
of gold in the piece of jewelry.
Most jewelry is marked with
its karat quality, although
marking is not required by
law. Near the karat quality
mark, you should see the name
of the U.S. registered trademark
of the company that will stand
behind the mark. The trademark
may be in the form of a name,
symbol or initials. If you
don’t see a trademark
accompanying a quality mark
on a piece of jewelry, look
for another piece.
Solid gold refers to an item
made of any karat gold, if
the inside of the item is
not hollow. The proportion
of gold in the piece of jewelry
still is determined by the
karat mark.
Jewelry can be plated with
gold in a variety of ways.
Gold plate refers to items
that are either mechanically
plated, electroplated, or
plated by any other means
with gold to a base metal.
Eventually, gold plating wears
away, but how soon will depend
on how often the item is worn
and how thick the plating
is.
Gold-filled, gold overlay
and rolled gold plate are
terms used to describe jewelry
that has a layer of at least
10 karat gold mechanically
bonded to a base metal. If
the jewelry is marked with
one of these terms, the term
or abbreviation should follow
the karat quality of the gold
used (for example, 14K Gold
Overlay or 12K RGP). If the
layer of karat gold is less
than 1/20th of the total weight
of the item, any marking must
state the actual percentage
of karat gold, such as 1/40
14K Gold Overlay.
Gold electroplate describes
jewelry that has a layer (at
least .175 microns thick)
of a minimum of 10 karat gold
deposited on a base metal
by an electrolytic process.
The terms gold flashed or
gold washed describe products
that have an extremely thin
electroplating of gold (less
than .175 microns thick).
This will wear away more quickly
than gold plate, gold-filled
or gold electroplate.
Vermeil (ver-may), a special
type of gold plated product,
consists of a base of sterling
silver that is coated or plated
with gold.
