Gold Jewelery: What Are Carats All About?

Lots of different kinds of materials can be used to create ornaments. In ancient times, copper ornaments were popular. Then, they gave way to bronze or brass pieces. After gold and silver became more readily available, the price of jewelry was affected, but more and more people became interested in buying trinkets. Other popular trinket materials include pearls, platinum, and diamonds. Even so, the most popular material for jewelry is gold, and it retains its popularity right down to the present day.

Gold is, however, quite costly. Because of this people on limited incomes, or generally the 'middle class', are not able to afford to buy jewelry made from pure gold. Generally some lesser material, such as copper or silver, is mixed in with the gold to create a less costly jewelry. This process does not decrease the visual appeal of the gold jewelry.

The amount of additional gold in an alloy made of gold and a less costly metal is measured by a unit called carat. If you go to a jewelry shop, you can see a number and a sign for carat marked against each ornament. 24 carat depicts pure gold whereas 18 carat gold means that the ornament is made of an alloy that contains 75 percent gold and 25 percent of some other less precious metal.

It is extremely hard to create 24 carat gold jewelry since gold is soft, bending and cracking quite easily. Due to this low tensile strength, little flakes can be abraded off an object made out of solid gold. Purchasers can only find gold "biscuits" or coins made of nearly pure gold. Aside from those, one has to settle for something made out of an alloy.

In case your financial status does not allow you to buy 22 carat gold jewelry, please do not feel crestfallen. There are less costly options available which generate as much visual appeal as pure gold ornaments. 14k jewelry (http://www.luxurybasics.com/blog/) ornaments with embedded ruby, sapphire, emerald, and turquoise, known as semi precious jewelry (http://www.luxurybasics.com/blog/), is one such option.

Another possible alternative is to purchase silver jeweler that has gold coating on it. Only a jeweler can claim to successfully distinguish gold plated silver jeweler from pure gold jewelry at all times. Yes, they look so similar to pure gold jewelry.

Fascination for gold jewelery (http://www.luxurybasics.com/blog/category/gold-jewelry/) has only grown over the centuries. There are a variety of ways to buy jewelry that looks just as good, often better, than 22 carat jewelry. One way to do this is to buy semi precious jewelry (http://www.luxurybasics.com/blog/) that combines semi precious stones like sapphires, rubies, and emeralds with 14k jewelry (http://www.luxurybasics.com/blog/). Another possible alternative is to purchase silver jeweler that has gold coating on it. Only a jeweler can claim to successfully distinguish gold plated silver jeweler from pure gold jewelry at all times. Yes, they look so similar to pure gold jewelry.