Gold

Gold is the most adaptable metal. You may be surprised to learn that in addition to gold being associated with jewellery it is also used in medicine and electronics. Gold has captured the hearts of men and women for over a millennium and can be found in all cultures. Gold is popular for its rarity and brilliance.

When creating gold jewellery it is important to balance the purity of the gold with durability.  Below we have broken down each of the most common karat weights for gold.

24 Karat: 99.9% Pure
22 Karat: 91.7% Pure 
18 Karat: 75% Pure
14 Karat: 58.3% Pure
12 Karat: 50% Pure
10 Karat: 41.7% Pure

The higher concentration of pure gold the softer and more malleable (ability to be bent and stretched into shapes) the metal becomes. This means that jewellery might lose some of its shape if worn on a regular basis. The most common karats of gold used in design work are 18k, 14k and 10k gold as it is the most durable.