Is gold jewelry fashionable in 2020? Despite your opinions on gold, gold jewelry will never be out of style! It has made its lifetime mark in the industry. Gold is a timeless metal that will never lose its status in the world. It is more elegant and durable than silver metal. The general public as well as jewelry designers and jewelers still view gold as unique, classic and expensive! Gold is timeless, classy and can be passed down as heirlooms for generations. Other metals simply don’t have the qualities and quality that gold has!
In the early 2000’s gold had the stigma going around that people were wearing too much of it. It was associated with the mafia, loan sharks and what not! Remember how you may have been told beware of the guy wearing a gold pinkie ring. For this reason and for the simple fact that gold is expensive, is why (I believe) gold lost some of its popularity. It is once again gaining traction.
Granted gold can be confusing. How do you even know if it is gold, pure gold or simply a gold metal? And what the heck is 24kt gold, gold filled and gold plated? Gold is an elemental metal meaning it is made up of nothing but gold atoms. Other elemental metals include copper, aluminum, and iron. All of which are made of nothing but the said metal’s atoms. In its natural form, pure gold is a buttery orangish-yellow. It is very shiny and soft. It can be easily scratched and is quite malleable. In its pure form it is much too soft for jewelry, which is why it is often mixed with other metals to give it strength and durability.
Gold not only comes in yellow but white, rose and even green too!
The Karat System used in the US and the Numeric Marking System (sometimes called the European or Convention System) used outside the US is used to reveal the amount of pure gold found in an item.
24 karat (24K) gold is pure gold or 99.99%. It does have a small percentage of other metals such as zinc, copper, nickel, etc. 24K gold is considered pure gold in the jewelry industry and the purest gold you can buy. You may also see 24K gold marked as 999, especially outside the US. Due to its price and durability there is not a whole lot of jewelry made out of 24K gold. I even had a hard time finding jewelry images of 24K gold jewelry!
18 karat (18K) gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of another metal or metals, making it 75% gold. Or marked as 750.
14 karat (14K) gold contains 14 parts gold and 10 parts of another metal or metals, making it 58.3% gold. It may also be marked as 585. In the us this is by far the most popular purity.
10 karat (10K) gold contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts of another metal or metals, making it 41.7% gold. 10K gold is the minimum karat designation that can still be called gold in the US. It could also be marked as 417.
The higher the karat the brighter and more yellow its appearance, and also the more expensive. The lower the karat the more scratch resistant and durable. 14 karat seems to be somewhat of the “gold standard” in the US. All karat gold is still considered gold. The difference being the purity. In 1906 the US enacted the Gold and Silver Stamping Act which required that manufacturers put a quality stamp on karat gold. This is the best way to determine if something is gold or not. You may still find unstamped gold but proceed with caution! You know the old adage you get what you pay for. The best advice is to trust who you are buying from.
Karat gold filled jewelry is not actually filled and is not actually considered gold. Gold filled is made of base metal (usually brass or copper) covered by sheets of gold in a mechanical bonding process. By law gold filled jewelry has a 1/20th (by weight) layer of karat gold bonded over the base metal. Gold filled jewelry will usually bare a mark such as 14/20 or 14K G.F. meaning it is 14 karat gold filled. Likewise the 14 can be substituted with 18, 10 or whatever the gold purity may happen to be. Don’t discredit gold filled jewelry! It is still beautiful and can be a valued piece. In price it is very comparable to sterling silver. So wear it with joy!
Unlike gold filled jewelry gold plate jewelry only has a few microns (millionths of a part) of gold. The karat gold in gold filled jewelry has a hundred or more times gold. Under normal wear and reasonable care that you would give any precious metal jewelry, karat gold filled jewelry will not peel or flake and can be treasured as valuable pieces. Gold plate may eventually wear off based on how often it is worn, body chemistry and any other things it comes in contact with. Gold plate is more apt to tarnish as well!
I personally love gold! But, I do not have any karat gold jewelry in the CKS jewelry line. At this stage, karat gold is simply too expensive for me to use in my designs and offer my customers a reasonable price! I do use gold filled and brass. Brass can look like gold, but is a whole lot less expensive.
More on that in an upcoming blog!
Until next time,
ENJOY!!
cheryl