Buying jewelry can be overwhelming, especially with the insane markup in prices… up to 300%! If you don’t know this, when buying your diamonds, gold, or stones, you can be taken advantage of. Don’t be dazzled by the appearance, you need to look deeper than that. I’ve worked for a large antique and estate jewelry store for about a year as a sales representative. Along with selling jewelry, I purchase customers’ jewelry on behalf of the store and take in repairs. So, here’s your guide to gold and metals from someone on the inside!
- Karat Gold
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Karat Gold is 24K being pure gold. Pure gold is incredibly yellow and too soft to use in jewelry. Anything less than 24K is gold mixed with alloys. From most pure to least pure, it goes 22K, 18K, 14k, 10k, and 9k. 9k gold is from Ireland and England, some of the only places where they make it.
We recommend 14k and 10k to customers. The lower in karats you go the more inexpensive it gets, because there is less gold. 18k has a much more yellow tone to it that people either hate or love. It is really all up to personal preference. However, if you don’t want to spend a fortune on jewelry but want something that is long lasting and high quality, 14k and 10k are the way to go. Karat gold is always marked on the clasp of a necklace, on the shank of a ring, or on the post of an earring. The markings are different based on the karat. For example, markings could be “14k” or “585” (58.5% pure gold).
White gold is gold mixed with platinum, palladium, or nickel, to get the silvery appeal. Rose gold is karat gold mixed with a copper alloy. Green gold is gold mixed with silver, zinc, or copper usually in the Art Nouveau and Edwardian eras.
Platinum is its own metal and is notoriously hard to work with for jewelers. Platinum will break, as opposed to gold which will bend. The price of sizing, re-shanking, or fixing the ring in any way jumps up the price. That’s because it takes such high heat to work with it. Platinum will be marketed as “PLAT”.
- Gold Filled
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Gold filled is a thick layer of gold over a base metal. This was often used in Victorian pieces. Because of how much gold there is, the price can increase. You can wear gold-filled pieces in the shower. Gold filled is often marked “GF” or “1/20 14k GF”.
- Gold Plated
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Gold plated is a thin layer of gold over a base metal. Base metals can include brass, copper, stainless steel, any sort of inexpensive metal. It’s a sort of costume jewelry you would find at Claire’s, or along the side of the checkout aisle. It can tarnish incredibly quickly. It may look like gold, but it is not. Some famous/infamous brands are Avon and Ana Luisa. Gold plated appears really shiny and doesn’t feel like real gold. A practiced jeweler will be able to tell by touch and appearance but can confirm through a scratch test. The plating will often rub off on a small part of the piece where it is scratch tested. Then the scratch will fade quickly or turn a strange color when tested with the acid, when real karat gold would not.
Amazon.com - Vermeil
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Vermeil is a layer of gold over sterling silver. This is indicative of a nicer costume piece. It will also last longer and can be rhodium plated to keep the gold color (as it will fade over the years). If a piece is sterling silver it will be stamped 925. If it is vermeil a lot of times it will appear yellow gold, but be stamped 925, and that’s how you know it is indeed vermeil.
Of course, when it comes to jewelry, it’s all about sentimental value. If you love it, who cares what it’s made of. The only thing to watch out for is if it breaks, as a lot of cheap costume jewelry will, the jewelers might not be able to do anything about it. Many jewelers only work with sterling silver, gold, or platinum. The jewelers won’t know what the base metal of the costume jewelry is so they could melt the entire piece or melt the plating, making your jewelry look entirely different.
There is also value in investing in karat gold jewelry — whether that’s rose gold, white gold, yellow gold, or green gold. It is made to last. And if it breaks a jeweler will be able to fix it. It will always be valuable. You can resell it or your descendants can resell it.
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