How much ACTUAL gold is in that "gold" jewelry

summertooth (72) in steemsilvergold • 5 years ago

Hello again, I hope you had a great weekend. I want to start by saying I am not a big gold-bug and even less of a jewelry guy but I did want to go over the basics of gold fineness today. There are certainly others here that know much more about the subject and I would be happy to hear from them if I miss something. So without further ado let's look at a little bit about gold fineness.

Karat

There are a couple of different ways to measure the fineness of gold and today we will look at the karat (spelled with a "c" in Europe, I believe. Carat) system. Anyone that has bought gold jewelry will likely have heard this word used to describe the amount of gold in the jewelry but what does it actually mean?

The karat is a fractional measure of purity for gold alloys, in parts fine per 24 parts whole. 24-karat gold is pure or 24/24 parts gold, 18-karat gold is 18 parts gold, 6 parts another metal (forming an alloy with 75% gold), 12-karat gold is 12 parts gold, and so on.

The Math

You probably have this figured out already but just in case you are as "good" ;) at math as I am, here is the way to figure out how much gold is in that necklace you love.

If 24 is pure, or "whole" then just divide the karat of your gold jewelry by 24 so,

24k gold would be 24/24 = 100% or pure gold (minus .1% for impurities so, 99.9% pure in reality)
22k gold 22/24 = .916 or 91.6% gold
20k gold 20/24 = .833 or 83.3% gold
18k gold 18/24 = .75 or 75% gold
14k gold 14/24 = .583 or 58.3% gold

As you can see anything less than about 22k is pretty watered down so if you are looking at your gold jewelry as an investment keep this in mind. That is not to say that 18k jewelry is trash, it is just so far from pure that it is not good as an investment in general.

If you are interested in some "investment jewelry" check out Mene. They have some great stuff and it is all pure gold and platinum.

So there is a quick look at the karat system of measuring gold fineness. I hope this helps the next time you go to buy that perfect necklace for your loved one.

steemsilvergold gold cc invest photography investing fineness mr-t math investment steemleo

5 years ago by summertooth (72)

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davedickeyyall (73) · 5 years ago

Wow. I didn't realize that. Once you see "the math" why would you buy anything other than 24k

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metzli (64) · 5 years ago

Durability. Some people actually use the jewelry and 24 karat is quite soft, it bends and bangs easily. But jewelry is a lousy investment, if bought new, it loses 90% of its value as soon as it leaves the store unless it is "designer" and then any bends and imperfections make it worth less.

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goldmatters (74) · 5 years ago

Hello there @metzli! Great to meet you:) Normal that stat you mentioned is absolutely correct. I implore you to learn about Mene, a new 24k jewelry company that I discuss every day here. Mene uses 24k jewelry sold by gram weight with a transparent design of roughly 20%.

Almost every single person who has purchased gold jewelry from mene since inception (the company is around 2 years old) is actually up quite a bit on their investment

Anyway, if you are interested, please check out my blog for more info or ask me any question!

Goldmatters

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metzli (64) · 5 years ago

Thanks for the tip. I used to work at a "jewelry shop" which was actually just a pawn shop that had lost its zoning. Day in and day out people would come in to sell their "investment" only to find out that their investment was nearly worthless. Thanks for the tip. I will surely be checking out the shop. I love buying jewelry for my kids and usually stick to used small silver pieces that are "well priced" but gold sure sounds better.

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1 vote

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goldmatters (74) · 5 years ago

Thank you so much for your open mindedness and for your interest. Please let me know if you have any questions at all about Mene :)

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Once I do any math I need a beer and a lay-z-boy.

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1 vote

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davedickeyyall (73) · 5 years ago

!BEER

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beerlover (62) · 5 years ago

^{View or trade BEER.}

Hey @summertooth, here is a little bit of BEER from @davedickeyyall for you. Enjoy it!

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monsterjamgold (59) · 5 years ago

The reason you have lower carat gold for jewellery especially rings is that gold is a soft metal and without a decent alloy it will easily deform, if your buying jewellery for an investment I would caution against it unless you are buying second hand like @fat-elvis who is buying just for the weigh. Gold jewellery usually has a mark up of twice the price of spot, so unless you love a peace or if it is so cheap it's near spot buy bullion.

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1 vote

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dfinney (65) · 5 years ago

And here he is! 😍

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monsterjamgold (59) · 5 years ago

I do love my bling Madame President

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Yes, I know it soft as far as metals go so not really for everyday jewelry but as an investment, it has to be 24k.
Thanks for stopping in MJG!

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metzli (64) · 5 years ago

Thanks for breaking that down. Nice, easy to understand post

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

My pleasure @metzli. I learned this info for the first time in doing research for this post. :)

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silversaver888 (72) · 5 years ago

Hahaha.... it is an eye opener for many. Aren't you glad to be informed? Thanks to Mene, @summertooth! I am glad I stack Mene.

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Indeed @silversaver888. I had no idea what the karat represented until I researched for this post. I know you are a Mene super-fan and if I was a jewelry guy I would be too. I have bought charms for others though and I can see why you love it!!

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ironshield (69) · 5 years ago

I have a chain that is 10K gold. Next to 24K it looks really bland.

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Yeah, I guess as long as you like it the actual gold content is secondary. Thanks for stopping in @ironshield.

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thejollyroger (72) · 5 years ago

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alucian (64) · 5 years ago

!ban

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commentcoin (55) · 5 years ago

You have banned @thejollyroger from CC Project!

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silvertop (79) · 5 years ago

Good post @summertooth...
Some of the reasons to reduce the Karat in jewelry is also durability.
I will be Married to my lady 39 years this July.
I am on my second 10K Gold band, I do lots of building and remodeling, and I am rough on my ring that never comes off.
For investment it’s Kueg’s , Eagles and Sovereigns!!!!👍🤗

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Yep, I should have mentioned that in the post but I tried to keep it simple so I could understand it too!!
;) :)

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silvertop (79) · 5 years ago

😊👍stack on my friend!!!

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elizabethbit (78) · 5 years ago

That is good information to have. I didn't realize the breakdown. Thanks!

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Yeah, I just learned it too @elizabethbit. Really interesting.,

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commentcoin (55) · 5 years ago

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

This post is what I'm talking about @commentcoin!! Thanks for rewarding all these KICK-ASS commenters on this post with some CC.

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1 vote

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alucian (64) · 5 years ago

You are welcome. Looks like you got a lot replies. :-)

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commentcoin (55) · 5 years ago

@summertooth Sorry I missed this one. Can you send me the link greetings @wakeupkitty

_{Posted with}

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blueeyes8960 (69) · 5 years ago

That was a very simple and easy to understand explanation of the karat standard.
@tipu curate

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Thanks, @blueeyes8960. I never realized it was so simple until I researched it for this post. :)

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guurry123 (63) · 5 years ago

Informative post.
I general we talked about 916 jewellery but now I know why some jewellery is 916 grade.

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Thanks @guurry123.

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irisworld (64) · 5 years ago

nice maths...I didn't actually think about the actual weight of gold

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Thanks @irisworld. I had never really thought about it either until I was researching this post.

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goldmatters (74) · 5 years ago

Fantastic work @summertooth! Thanks for this

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summertooth (72) · 5 years ago

Thanks @goldmatters! You were the guy I was thinking about when I said, "there are certainly other folks here that know much more about this than I" :)
So thanks for stopping in. My daughter loves her Mene charm btw!!