Most of us have experienced that when looking at a piece of jewelry or a piece of jewelry, carat is most often used as an indicator of the quality of the jewelry.

Most of us also know that the higher the carat, the higher the price. But what exactly is a carat and what does the number mean, which is used to describe jewelry materials and jewelry today?

You can learn more about that here. Here's our guide to carats and what they really mean.

Karat is a measurement of the fineness of gold. The fineness of a piece of gold is represented by the total weight of fine metal that the piece of jewelery contains. That is, the total weight of the gold in the piece of jewelry, including the alloyed metal and any impurities.

Carat is not the same as carat
Carat is often confused with carat. You know carat from diamonds and is a term used to describe the quality of a precious stone. Here, gemstones are measured in carats per 200 mg. In Danish, this means that for every 200mg of diamond, the carat of the gemstone increases, for example.

Gold on the other hand. It is measured in carats and is measured in fractions of 24 parts. This means that the next time you stand with a 24-carat piece of jewelry, or a piece of jewelry that is coated with 24-carat gold plating, you know that the coating of this piece of jewelry consists of 100% pure gold. Conversely, if you are wearing a coating or piece of jewelery of 12 carats, you also know that the purity of the gold is 50%. So the jewelery part is 50% gold and 50% other metals such as zinc, copper etc.

Why is 18 carat used instead of 24 carat?
Despite the fact that 24 carat gold is more valuable, it is rarely seen used in jewelry. This is because pure gold is soft in the metal, and tends to bend/change shape, due to the lack of strength and resilience in its metal.

You may have come across some stamps on your jewelery or jewelery materials and thought what does it mean?

And here we do not mean the usual stamps such as 9k, 10k, 14k, 18k and 24k. No, we mean those weird whole numbers like 585 and 750 that can be found on some of your gold jewelry pieces.

To explain it best and give you an idea of ​​what the funny stamps are, let's bring in another familiar metal. Sterling silver. There you probably know the stamp 925, which is usually found somewhere on the jewelery section. 925 means that your sterling silver piece of jewelery consists of 92.5 percent pure silver, and is therefore your assurance that you are dealing with a fine metal.

The same applies to our mentioned gold jewelery and jewelery parts. When a piece of jewelery is stamped with e.g. 750, then you know that your piece of jewelery or piece of jewelery consists of 75% pure gold. This corresponds to 18 carats. For further elaboration, let's take a stamp like 500. It is your assurance that 50% of the jewelery part consists of gold.

I have made a tabular overview of the different carats above. You can use this as a reference the next time you need to find out about carats and what the different stamps and designations mean.

Other gold stamps
There are also other stamps. You may have come across a stamp like GE, which means “Gold Electroplated”. This stamp means that the base of one's jewelery is made of one metal, typically brass, where it has subsequently been gold-plated.

In addition, there are some other stamps such as GF and HGE, which indicate that your piece of jewelery has a base of a metal such as brass, which has subsequently been gold-plated.

There are several different ways in which you can find out whether your gold jewelery is actually real gold. Today, gold jewelery is either stamped with a carat mark such as 18k, or a number such as 585 or 750.

Now that the nitty-gritty is out of the way, let's talk about which carat you should choose and what advantages one carat has over another.

24 karat gold
24 carat gold jewelry is not seen as often as some of the other types of carat. The same applies to gold coatings of 24 carat and this is because gold itself is an incredibly soft material which is easy to bend and scratch.

In addition, the color of gold in 24k tends to a more yellow-orange shade and is seen as being very light. It may be that you yourself have experienced a 24 carat piece of jewelery and thought that the gold color looked a little different from what you associate with the color gold.

Finally, 24k gold is also more expensive to buy. This is for the simple reason that if you have a 24 carat piece of jewelery versus a 12 carat piece of jewellery, it consists of twice as much gold. This therefore also means that the jewelery part has typically been twice as expensive to produce.

18 karat gold
18 carat jewelry parts and jewelry are probably the purest gold jewelry or jewelry part you can get, which is also resistant to everyday trials.

Below we list three factors that describe 18 carat gold.

1. 18 carat gold consists of 75% pure gold and 25% alloyed metal, for example brass.

2. 18 carat gold has the classic rich yellow gold appearance in color.

3. 18 carat is described as hypoallergenic and the right choice for you who suffer from sensitive skin and allergies.

All in all, 18 carat gold is a really good choice for you who are looking for the purest form of gold jewelery parts or jewellery, where you also want jewelery that is practical and can be worn on a daily basis.

If, on the other hand, you want a more resistant piece of jewelry, then maybe 14 carat is what you are looking for?

14 karat gold
14 carat is, together with 18 carat, the most used gold coatings when it comes to jewelery and jewelery parts. In fact, 80-90% of the world's wedding rings consist of either 14 or 18 carats.

A 14 carat piece of jewelery is easily recognisable. The piece of jewelry or piece of jewelry has the rich color of gold that most of us are familiar with. The gold color is a tooth less saturated and intense in color than an 18 carat gilding. Therefore, a 14 carat will also be the obvious choice for you who are looking for a piece of jewelery that is rich in colour.

Below we list five factors that describe 14 carat gold

1. 14 carat consists of 58.3% gold and 41.7% alloy metal.

2. 14 carat is significantly more resistant to scratches and scuffs than 24 carat.

3. 14 carat is considerably cheaper to purchase.

4. Called the "all-rounder" because of the good durability and quality of the gilding.

14 carat gold is probably the most widely used gilding carat available and this is not a coincidence. In a 14 carat gilding, you get the most for your money if you take durability, quality and price into the overall calculation.

In addition, the karate is still so pure in the gold that virtually all people will be able to wear this form of gilding, without experiencing skin irritations and allergies.

ATTENTION
Now that we are moving down the karat ladder, it is important to be told that the purity of the gold is decreasing. This means that people who have hypersensitive skin or suffer from allergies will be able to experience, for example, skin irritation.

10 karat gold
10 carat gold is the lowest purity of gold that can be obtained in a gilding where the gold can still be labeled and marketed as gold. And what does that mean?

This means that many countries today do not accept products as real gold unless they have a carat of at least 10 carats. However, this does not make 10 carat gold plating unpopular. On the contrary. Today, many of the world's earrings are plated or made with 10 carats. The color of a 10 carat gilding is easily recognizable if you have a keen eye for gold. The color often appears as a soft and pale color of gold.

A durable alternative to 14 carat
If you believe that your jewelery pieces must be incredibly resistant to scratches and scuffs, then 10 carat jewelery and jewelery pieces are a good choice. The high amount of alloyed metals such as zinc, copper etc., means that the piece of jewelery itself is extremely resistant to scratches.

Below we list four factors that describe 10 carat gold

1. 10 carat consists of 41.7% gold and 58.3% alloyed metals.

2. 10 carat is extremely hard-wearing and resistant to scratches and scuffs

3. 10 carat gold color appears softer and paler in colour

4. 10 carat is the cheapest gilding to buy, of gildings that are burned like real gold

Thank you for your time and now remember that gold plating behaves differently depending on who you are. That is probably the most important information you can take away from this blog post. Some can carry a lower carat without the gilding becoming unsightly, while others need to go higher on the carat scale.