How To Buy Guide - Jewelry Guide

Gold is one of the earth's most precious metals, and also one of the oldest on record: humans have been using it since prehistoric times. Here's some helpful background on gold:

What's a Karat, anyway?

Because it's a soft metal, gold is usually sold as an alloy, which means it's been combined with other metals to make it harder and more durable. Gold's purity is measured in Karats: 24-Karat (24K) piece of gold jewelry is 99.99% pure gold.

The karat quality marking tells you how much gold is mixed with other metals. If it's 18-Karat (18K) gold, it contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of base metal, so it's technically 75 percent gold. (You may also see European marking, where gold's purity is measured on a scale of 1000, meaning that pure 24K gold is 999 fineness, whereas 18K gold is 750 fineness.

If the piece is marked with its karat rating, be sure that it is also engraved with the name or trademark of the company that will stand behind the mark. If a piece doesn't have a trademark alongside the karat rating, it's best to find another piece.

The legal requirements for minimum gold carat standards vary widely from country to country. In the U.S., nothing less than 10-Karat gold can be legally marked or sold as gold jewelry. In France and Italy, the lowest permitted gold standard is 18-Karat, while in Britain, the minimum standard has been 9-Karat since the first World War (when gold was in short supply).

Gold-Plated, Vermeil, and Solid Gold Jewelry

When looking for gold jewelry, you'll likely see some of the following terms:

Gold plating refers to an item with a layer of at least 10K gold that has been plated to a base metal. Gold plating eventually wears away, depending on the thickness of the plating and how often the item is worn.

Vermeil is a special type of gold-plated jewelry involving a sterling silver base that is coated or plated with gold.

Solid gold refers to an item of any karat rating whose inside is not hollow. Don't get confused: "solid gold" has nothing to do with gold's purity. A 10K gold bracelet and a 24K gold bracelet can both be solid gold, but the 24K gold bracelet is of higher quality.

Gold-plated items are much less expensive than solid gold, but if you're looking for longevity, it's best to look for a solid gold piece of jewelry.

Colors of Gold

Depending on the base metal it's mixed with, gold will often take on a different tone. Yellow, white, green and rose gold are some of the most popular varieties. As we mentioned earlier, your best bet is to know who you're shopping for, and make your decsision based on her.

If you're ready to start shopping, click here to browse through our most popular 14K gold necklaces. Otherwise, let's move on and talk about other rare metals.