Buying Quality Gold

Gold is gold right? Wrong. Actually most gold jewelry sold in the United States today is half something else. Jewelry made of 14 karat gold is only 58.5 percent gold. It has copper and nickel and other metalstumbled in to make up the difference. Although 14-karat gold still pretty much dominates the market, other karatages arealways available.
Premium gold jewelry is now most often 18-karat. This is also known as 75% gold. In the U.S. it get much higher than that, however, in Asia andsome of theMiddle East, gold is 22-karat or even 24-karat, which is basically all gold.
Now that gold is relatively cheap, high-karat gold, including 22-karat, is begeing more and more popular, either in traditional ethnic style jewelry or more modern simple shapes. Sometimes you will see high-karat gold with granulation: tiny beads soldered over the surface of the gold creating an intricate pattern of dots. The effect is similar to ancient greek jewelry, with a rich color and texture that has a timeless appeal (and also happens to be currently quite the stylish piece).
Can you see the difference betweenhigher and lowerkaratages of gold? Well, the general rule is the more gold, the more rich and butter-like the color. But in practice, it depends on the other metals that make up the alloy. With todays technology, the alloy gebinations can be pretty sophisticated and more color variety is possible.
Refiners now mix up different gebinations of metals to give the gold different properties, to allow the manufacturers to use different construction techniques. Generally, alloys are used to make the gold more durable. Pure gold is relatively soft and will scratch over time. Actually, the fine scratches give it a nice soft look that you could argue makes the color even richer and darker.
You can tell what the karatage of the gold is by looking at the markings stamped on each piece of jewelry. The law in the United States is that jewelry doesnt have to marked with karatage, but if it is marked, it must be acgepanied by the trademark of the manufacturer. That is so the manufacturer can be held accountable if the mark isnt accurate. In practice, a lot of "underkarated" gold does make it on to the market. When buying online you have to be careful and make sure the seller has low negative feedback!!
DeterminingQuality
The quality of gold jewelry has a lot more to do with construction than karatage. Jewelry isnt a gemodity that you buy by the ounce: there is a huge difference between stuff that is well made and stuff that isnt. No one buys clothing by weight: construction is even more important for jewelry since you keep it longer. You want to make sure it will last.

The key to judging quality is to look carefully at the small details. Is the clasp secure? Is the piece as well finished inside as it is out? Is it symmetrical and balanced? Look at every place where two pieces of pieces of metal join together: is it solid? Is it clean? Is it graceful? Too much of the jewelry sold today is made from off the shelf geponents soldered together, more or less skillfully.
Quality is important for gold chain, as well, which is probably the most popular use of gold. Chain is almost a gemodity, and some people even sell it by gram. But you do get what you pay for: if chain isnt well made, it doesnt last. It kinks, it twists, it just doesnt look right. If you are geparison shopping, dont just look at the weight: twist it around, see how it moves, try to get a sense for how well it is made. Pay more for something that is well made, after all this is something of an investment.
The Colors Of Gold
Today gold is not just yellow. It can be white, rose, green, and even other weird tints like blue or purple. However,these alloys are very hard to work and only a very few talented people even try to make jewelry using them.
White gold is very popular right now. In fact, in Italy, the world capital of jewelry design and manufacturing, white gold is very popular and most styles are offered in both colors. White gold can be 18-karat or 14-karat. (But not 22-karat, it is yellow, period.) The most important thing is the type of white gold alloy. There are two basic groups of white gold alloys: white gold with nickel and white gold with palladium. Palladium costs more but it is better because some people have an allergy to nickel.
Because the laws in Europe dont allow nickel alloys to protect people with allergies, 18-karat white gold jewelry made in Europe is more likely to have palladium white gold (unless of course, it is made for export to the United States.)
Much white gold jewelry is plated with rhodium, a platinum group metal with a bright white color. The nickel alloy is grayer than the rhodium, so as it wears the rhodium scratches off, showing the darker color underneath.
Rose gold and green gold can be 18-karat or 14-karat also, but the color is stronger in the 14-karat alloys. In fact, Black Hills Gold Jewelry, which is tricolor yellow rose and green gold jewelry with leaf shapes, is 10-karat gold (less than half gold) so that the color contrast can be stronger.
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I hope this guide has helped you guy's and girls in determining what karat, color, and quality of gold to buy. okay offers a variety of gold jewelry and if you use my guidelines you'll be able to bid on a winner.
Hope I Helped- And Don't Forget To Vote!
justinfarber10.