7730 Wolf River Blvd.
Suite 103
Germantown, TN 38138
(901) 751-8052 Fax (901) 751-8062
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1) What's the difference between carats and karats? 2) What are the different alloys used in gold? 3) What are the different colors of gold and how do you get them? 4) Is 18 karat better than 14 karat? 5) What is the difference between gold and other terms like gold filled, gold plate, and rolled gold plate? 6) Why does my white gold jewelry have a yellow tint? 7) How do I clean and care for my gold jewelry? 8) Various facts about GOLD. 9) Gold Price History. 1) What's the difference between karats and carats? Carats refers to a measurement used primarily for diamonds. Karats is a unit for expressing proportion of gold purity. It is actually a fraction that determines gold content. Twenty-four karat is pure gold. Gold is mixed with harder metals for strength and durability. Fourteen karat is 14/24 gold and 10/24 alloys. 10k = 41.6% gold 58.4% alloy - usually stamped 417 14k = 58.3% gold 41.6% alloy - usually stamped 585 18k = 75.0% gold 25.0% alloy - usually stamped 750 24k = 100% gold - usually stamped 999 2) What are the different alloys used in gold? The ususual alloy metals are silver, copper, and zinc. Nickel is used in white gold. Different prorations of alloys are used to harden the gold and to make different colors of gold. 3) What are the different colors of gold and how do you get them? Gold is available in yellow, white, pink (or rose), and green. Alloys are mixed in varying proportions with the gold to harden it and to create different shades. Yellow = Silver, Zinc, and Copper White = Nickel Pink = Copper Green = Silver and Zinc 4) Is 18 karat better than 14 karat? Eighteen karat is more valuable because it contains a higher percentage of pure gold, thus costs more money. Most people worry that higher content gold like 18 karat is softer than lower content gold and will wear out. Eighteen karat gold is hardened differently than 10 and 14 karat. You can see the difference in color and feel the difference by weight. By hardening 18 karat using harder alloys, it effectively becomes as hard as 14 karat. 5) What is the difference between gold and other terms like gold filled, gold plate, and rolled gold plate? GOLD FILLED: layers of gold alloy joined to a base metal alloy by soldering or welding it and then rolling to the required thickness. The gold content is 1/20 or more of the total weight. GOLD PLATE: fine gold electrolytically deposited onto base metal, usually in a liquid solution. The thickness of gold may range from 7 to 100 millionths of an inch. ROLLED GOLD PLATE: similar to gold filled, but of lower quality. The gold content is less than 1/20 the total weight. 6) Why does my white gold jewelry have a yellow tint? White gold is made from yellow gold by mixing it with nickel. After this process, the metal is more white, but still has a yellow tint. The piece is then electrically plated with a finish called rhodium. Rhodium gives the bright and shiny silvery finish that you see in the final products. This finish will wear away and need to be replated, depending on your wear factors. 7) How do I clean and care for my gold jewelry? Polish jewelry with a soft cloth after wearing. Avoid contact with perfume, soap, hairsprays, and cosmetics. Other chemicals, such as clorine bleach, will actually eat the alloys out of the gold overnight. Swimming in a pool does the same thing over a long term period, making prongs on rings wear out much faster. You should take chains off at night and store them flat to prevent kinking or breaking. Simply rolling over in your sleep can ruin a chain beyond repair. 8) Various facts about GOLD. Gold hadicrafting has been dated to 3000 BC and believed to be the second metal to be worked, following copper. If all the gold ever found were cast into a single piece, it would only make a 20 yard cube. It would weigh approximately 12,000 tons. One ounce of gold can be flattened to a sheet that will cover 100 square feet or draw to a wire almost 1 mile long. Gold can be made into a foil thin enough to pass light through it.
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