Gold is alloyed with other metals, copper and silver to make the gold stronger. It is a remarkable metal which came from the earth¡¯s surface. Gold is not used only for jewelry. Gold is a metal with an unparalleled combination of physical and chemical properties that makes it valuable to a wide range of applications important to our modern life. Gold does not tarnish, rust, or corrode.

For thousands of years ago, gold has been the most popular of all the precious metals. Gold is soft enough to make different interesting shapes. The softness and the color is the main attraction for gold. Pure gold is hardly ever used in jewelry due to gold¡¯s softness. Pure gold is 24K, 18K gold is 75% gold, 14K is more than one- half pure gold. In the United States, 14K gold is mostly used. Nothing less than 10K can be legally sold in the U.S.

Gold is alloyed with different metals to increase its strength and to be made into variety of colors. The color of gold is determined by the amount of alloys that are included in the metal. The shade of the color will defer when gold is alloyed with silver, copper, and zinc. When gold is alloyed with nickel, copper, and zinc, it becomes white gold. White gold and platinum looks very a like, but they have different properties and value. Yellow gold and white gold have similar strength and softness.

The higher the karat rating, the higher the amount of gold is in the jewelry. The metal becomes stronger and less yellow when the karat weight drops. Gold that has lower karat weight will be plated in high-plated to increase its color. Eventually the gold plating will wear off and the jewelry may need to be re-plated.

White gold has the same properties as yellow gold. White gold is mixed with different metals to give it a white color. White gold contains metals such as nickel, zinc, or platinum. Yellow gold is made with copper and silver. The karat weight system is the same as that used in gold. White gold has a different look from other jewelry. Sometimes white gold is plated with an even whiter metal to increase its beauty.

The pricing of gold jewelry depends on the purity of the gold used, karat weight, and the design of the jewelry. As the karat weight or the percentage of the gold gets higher it raises the value of the jewelry.