Since the dawn of time, people have given each other ornaments of precious metal to demonstrate their love and commemorate special occasions and achievements in their lives. Gold was the most readily available exotic metal in the ancient world and was also the easiest to shape with primitive tools, thus it quickly evolved to become the material of choice. While a crude disc of pure gold might have been sufficient to reward the ambitious Egyptian worker who lifted the heaviest stone into place on his pyramid project, the modern world employs a much higher degree of sophistication in regards to its jewelry today. While gold is still the material of choice, it is carefully refined and blended, with the 18k gold ring having become the preferred vehicle of choice to reflect love, admiration, and respect.
Whether you are selecting a wedding band for your bride to be or shopping for a keepsake to commemorate your son’s graduation from medical school, nothing is more universally recognized and cherished than a gold ring. Of course, buying a gold ring involves understanding the peculiar language of the jewelry industry, so a little basic education would be a wise investment in time before beginning your search.
Know Your Karats.
Gold is defined by karats. This can be somewhat confusing to the jewelry shopper, as diamonds are also graded by carats, which is spelled differently (at least in North America) and mean a completely different thing. In the case of a diamond, the carat refers to the physical weight of the stone and is equivalent to 200 milligrams. In gold, the karat value refers to the purity of the metal.
If you are shopping online, you will also see the abbreviation for karat as either k, kt, or ct, depending on which web site you are visiting. Without getting into a long discussion of UK English versus American English, suffice it to say that all of these abbreviations are shorthand for the gold’s purity and that the selection of 18k gold rings you find at an American retailer will be the exact same purity as the 18ct gold rings offered by a British or Australian vendor. In the case of the UK dealer’s 18ct gold ring, the abbreviation reflects the fact that they spell the word karat with a C (which means it is spelled exactly the same as the diamond carat, which can lead to further confusion when buying a gold ring with diamond settings).
Jewelry is usually sold as either 10k, 14k, 18k, or 24k gold. The numbers represent the percentage of gold to other metals on a 24-point scale, with 10k meaning that the alloy contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts other metal. 18k would contain 18 parts gold and only 6 parts non-gold, while 24k would be 24 parts pure. It is impossible to guarantee that no trace of impurity exists within gold, so pure 24k gold is considered to be 99.9% pure, which is as good as it gets.
Why Is 18k Best?
Obviously, adding foreign metal to pure gold dilutes the amount of precious metal in the jewelry. On first consideration, one might feel that this will cheapen the finished product and make it less valuable. Actually, the exact opposite is true. While 24k gold will be the most expensive option, it is also the least appropriate for jewelry.
Gold, in its pure state, is an extremely soft metal. This is the primary reason why it became so popular to begin with, since it could be formed into any desired shape with nothing more than stone and bone tools. The finished product was beautiful, but not durable. As technology improved, metal workers discovered that they could melt other metals into the gold to not only make the material harder, but to add interesting new colors to the finished jewelry (as is the case with an 18k white gold ring, which contains 18 parts gold to 6 parts nickel, manganese, or palladium).
Because of its soft nature, 24k gold is rarely used in rings. The simple act of wearing it would eventually cause the metal to deform and lose the intricate details molded into it. 10k and 14k rings are popular for trades people and individuals who regularly work with their hands, where a great deal of rubbing and bumping on a daily basis would dent and deform an alloy with less strength. For typical daily use, the best combination by far has proven to be 18 karat gold. 18 karat alloy is as beautiful as its more delicate 24k relative but will hold its shape and shine for many lifetimes of routine daily tasks.
Whether you are purchasing a ring to show your undying devotion, or to commemorate a loved one’s passing one of life’s many important milestones, nothing conveys the message in a form that will last a lifetime more than an 18k gold ring.