subject: The Beauty Of Gold Necklace Jewellery [print this page] Gold jewelry can be rightly called the jewelry for all seasons and it never goes out of fashion. There are aesthetic and practical reasons why gold jewellery can be worn on any occasion. Gold is a non-reactive element and does not react easily with other elements therefore it does not tarnish.
It also looks very attractive. Gold is malleable and durable, making it easy for jewellers to form gold into almost any shape including very small strands that can be used for gold necklace jewellery. Gold necklace jewellery is therefore jewellery for all seasons. But how can you choose the right gold necklace jewellery for you?
First you need to determine how pure the gold necklace jewellery is. You need to find out if your gold necklace jewellery is 18K, 14K or 10K, with K representing Karat, the unit of measurement that determines the percentage of pure gold an item contains.
24 K is pure gold while 18 K gold is 18 parts gold and 6 parts of one or more additional metals, or 75% gold. 14 K gold describes items with 14 parts gold and 10 parts of one or more additional metals, making the item 58.3% gold. A 12 K gold contains 12 parts gold and 12 parts of one or more additional metals. In short, it is 50% gold. Finally, 10 K gold has 10 parts gold and 14 parts of one or more additional metals, thus making it 41.7% gold. 10 K gold is the minimum karat than can classified as "gold" in the United States.
Most makers leave a signature on gold jewelry right next to the karat marking. That should also tell you a lot about the jewelry. The main reason why gold is mixed with other metals though is durability. By itself, gold is soft and not practical to wear. However, when mixed with other metals, gold will not only change color but become more durable. Palladium and nickel can be mixed with pure gold, creating white gold.
