Karat or Carat

Well, it is both actually. Karat and Carat are interchangeable when it comes to talking about the fineness of gold. Carat is generally used outside the United States. Carat also is used in determining in the measuring of gem stone weights. 

 

So, what is a karat?

In ancient times merchants used carob seeds to scale gold and gem stones. The name had passed through many cultures and languages, as time progressed the word karat become the word to describe the purity of gold. 

When talking about gold a karat refers to the purity of precious metals like (Platinum, Gold and Silver) in parts to a whole. With gold a karat is equal to 1/24th (4.1667%) of the whole. Gold purity is a total of these 1/24th parts. There is also a system called Millesimal fineness which is also a system to denoting the purity of these metals, which is measured in parts per thousand.

For example 24k gold has a purity of .999 or 999 also known as three nines fine. This is typically the highest purity that is generally used for jewelry. There are higher fineness such as five nines fine, these other higher fineness gold are used for specialty items such as gold coins and gold bullion.

Different levels of karat.

Most people know gold at different karat levels like, 10k, 14k, 18k etc. These are the parts of of purity of gold that is also mixed with other alloys to create the different karat levels other than 24K pure gold. For example 14k is 14/24 or 58.3% pure gold. Depending on the look of gold will determine the other 41.7% alloy makeup of the 14k gold. Alloys like copper, nickel, silver and others, depending on the combination and levels of these allows can create different colors in the gold. Commonly seen is white gold, rose gold, there are others like beige gold and such. You can actually create even more colors than this, but they are not as commonly used. 

 

Number of Karats	Fraction of Gold	% of Gold Purity	Millesimal fineness
9K	9/24	37.5	375
10K	10/24	41.7	416/417
12K	12/24	50.0	500
14K	14/24	58.3	583/585
18K	18/24	75.0	750
21K	21/24	87.5	875
22K	22/24	91.7	916/617
24K	24/24	99.9	999

 

 21K gold is referred to as Arabian gold, also 22K gold is referred to as Indian gold in the International markets. 

Is higher karat better?

It all depends on what you are looking to do with the different karats of gold. 

• For example 21k and above is not a great gold for setting diamonds unless the diamond is fully closed in the gold. 
• Higher purity gold is soft and compared to lower purity gold that has much more base metals that makes it stronger.
• Higher purity gold is monetarily worth more than lower purity gold.

 

Hallmark, what is it?

No this has nothing to do with the company that makes cards. When referring to hallmarks in the gold market, this refers to the marking on jewelry. 

In Europe and other countries symbols would be stamped in designating who created the piece and what level of purity the piece presented. These hallmarks are not used as much in present day jewelry making, anymore most jewelry is just stamped with the Karat or Millesimal fineness number. 

Here you gain an in depth dive into the hallmarking of jewelry by Gold Traders Precious Metal Dealers. 

https://www.gold-traders.co.uk/blog/simple-gold-hallmark-guide/

Gold terminology:

• Hallmark: This is a symbol or mark that is stamped into a piece of precious metal that denotes it's purity.
• Karat: This is the unit of measure for the fineness of gold. The higher the number, means more gold that is used and 24K being the finest (99.9).
• Millesimal Fineness: The system that was created to show the purity of precious metals by parts per thousand rather than karat.
• Troy Ounce: 31.1034768 grams vs the avoirdupois ounce which is approximately 28.35 grams.