Usually everyone has heard 24 karat gold, 22 karat gold, 18 karat and other karats, but very few of them actually knows what is karat in Gold, does it represents the purity of gold or it presents the price or it represents the durability of gold.
In our previous posts we have covered two types of gold – Black gold and White Gold, there also we have used the term karat.
In this article we will completely explain you about gold karat, What are karat in Gold, how karat determines gold rate and if it has impact on gold quality or not.
Contents
Karat vs Carat : Complete Difference
Before reading this article you need to know about difference between “karat” and “Carat” Because people usually gets confuse and use karat word instead of carat and other way around.
Karat refers to the purity of gold, while carat is unit of weight used for gemstones like diamonds.
What is Karat in Gold?
Karat is a unit which shows the purity of alloy. It is expressed as fraction of 24. In simple terms, 24 karat gold means 24/24*100 = 100%. It is not exactly 100% pure it is somewhere around 99.6%.
Higher karat represents more pure gold in it, and lesser karat means other metals are added in the alloy to make the gold more durable and strong.
- 24 karat gold has 99.6% pure gold
- 22 karat gold has 91.6% pure gold
- 18 karat gold has 75% pure gold
- 14 karat gold has 58.3% pure gold
You can easily find out by using this formula :-
Result = (your karat) / 24 * 100
Result is the percentage of pure gold the alloy has.
Different Karats of Gold
- 24 karat Gold : 24 karat gold is pure natural gold which is soft and not suitable for making jewelry but highly valued for investment purposes.
- 22 Karat Gold : 22 karat gold is 91.7% pure gold and are good for jewelry making. 22k gold is a perfect balance for gold’s value and strength of gold.
- 18 Karat Gold : 18 karat gold contains 75% pure gold and is used in high-end jewelry.
- 14 Karat Gold : 14 karat gold is 58.3% pure gold and mostly used in the United States.
Which gold karat is used to make Jewellery?
22 karat and 18 karat Gold are used to make jewellery as pure gold is not compatible to make jewellery because of it soft nature. 22k gold and 18k gold has other metals such as zinc, nickel, copper which make the jewellery strong and more durable.
24 karat gold is mainly used for investing purpose. Gold coins, Gold Biscuits are the popular forms.
Pure 24k gold can never be used for making jewellery, the addition of other metals make it more strong to make gold jewellery.
Also Read :-
- What is Gold Karat? 3 ways how karat determines Gold Rate
- White Gold Rate Price in India | White Gold Ring & Chain Designs
- All About Black Gold | 3 Places Where does it is found in India
How Gold karat determines Gold Rate?
Gold Rate / Price is always dependent on Gold Karat. It not only influences the gold rate but also increase/decrease gold quality. 24k means it is pure gold which will be most valuable.
Going to 22k, here gold is mixed with other metals such as nickel, zinc, copper which has lower value than pure gold so the rate will be less, to be precise 8% price difference is there between 24k gold and 22k gold.
18k Gold is more cheaper than 24k and 22k as it contains more amount of impurity or other metals instead of Pure Gold.
If we go down to 12k Gold it is 50% Pure gold and 50% other metals.
For making jewellery 22k and 18k gold are mostly use in India, because the proportion of gold and other metal is in a good balance. Other metals give strength and durability to the jewellery pure gold gives the shine and value to the jewellery.
Conclusion
Hope that you get all your queries cleared and got some more information about Gold Karat and Gold Rate and how it fluctuates Gold price. Main thing to take from this article is that if you are planning to invest in gold then buy 24 karat gold and if you want to make jewellery than buy 22k or 18k gold. Thank you for reading this article. you can check our other blogs. Check Gold Rate of Pune.
What is a gold karat?
Karat is a unit which shows the purity of alloy. It is expressed as fraction of 24. In simple terms, 24 karat gold means 24/24*100 = 100%. It is not exactly 100% pure it is somewhere around 99.6%.
Is 10K gold better than 18K?
No, 10K gold has less percentage of Pure Gold than 18K. In 10K gold 41.66% of pure gold is there and in 18K gold 75% of pure gold is present.
Is 12k gold better than 14K?
No, 12K gold has less percentage of Pure Gold than 14K. In 12K gold 50% of pure gold is there and in 14K gold 58.33% of pure gold is present.
Why is 14K gold expensive?
14K gold is expensive because it has 58.33% of Pure gold in it. The most expensive gold is 24K, because it has 100% of pure gold.
Which karat gold is best?
24k Gold is best for Investment but not for jewellery and 22k and 18k gold are best for jewellery making because of its strength and durability.
Which karat gold is best for daily use?
22k and 18k Gold are best for daily use because boht of them have some percentage of other metals which provides strength to it and become capable of daily usage.