How Is White Gold Jewelry Stamped?

Gold is alloyed with other metals to make it stronger and more affordable. White gold is gold alloyed with a white or silver metal such as fine silver, nickel or palladium. All gold jewelry should bear a stamp or mark specifying the karat. The karat system indicates the gold content in parts of 24. For example 10-karat gold contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts of another metal.

24 Karat

24 karat is pure gold. It is not often used in jewelry because it is too soft and would break or bend during wear. It is marked with "24K."

18 Karat

18 karat is occasionally used in earrings or other pieces of jewelry that are less likely to be banged or bumped during wear. It is marked with "18K."

14 Karat

14 karat is the most commonly used karat for jewelry, including rings, necklaces and bracelets. It is marked with "14K."

10 Karat

10 karat is the lowest karat that may be sold as gold jewelry. It is sometimes used in rings because it is much stronger than the higher alloys. It is marked with "10K."

Warning

Gold-filled or gold-plated jewelry has very thin outer layers of gold with an inner layer of a base metal such as nickel. These pieces will be marked as "GF" or "GP," sometimes with a karat accompanying it such as "14K GF." Do not mistake this for gold jewelry, as it does not contain the minimum requirements of gold to be sold as such.

References

• Gillett's Jewellers: Jewelry Metal Information
• Mrs. Gottrocks Fine Jewelery: Gold and Precious Metals Information