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What does 14 karat or 10 karat mean?



evaluating precious metals by karat inforgraphic


The Importance of Purity in Gold Jewelry

Pure gold jewelry is uncommon is the USA, due to the inherent softness of the precious metal. To make gold jewelry more durable, it is often alloyed with other metals, such as silver, copper, nickel, and zinc to both strengthen the jewelry and change the color of the gold. The most common karats, or purity you will see in the United States are:

10 karat, which is 41.7% gold
14 karat, which is 58.3% gold
18 karat, which is 75% gold.

In other part of the world you will see:

8 karat which is 33.3% gold (Germany)
9 karat which is 37.5% gold (UK)
22 karat which is 91.6% gold (UK, Middle East, India, South East Asia)
24 karat which is 99.9% gold (China)

At Rancho Gold & Jewelry, we combine our years of expertise with our high tech X-Ray Spectrometer to accurately determine the karat purity of your jewelry. 


Visit us or call us at 702-626-0000 today and we would happy to answer any questions.