What is the difference between standard 9ct gold and yellow 9k gold as I have seen 9k yellow much cheaper can someone tell me if 9k is real gold and if it is Chinese and also the value 9k?

Answer 1

WHAT IS KARAT GOLD? Pure gold is called 24k. In numerical terms, this would be 0.999 fine gold. Numerical terms are also used to show the karat of gold in the international trade. Karat simply shows the amount of pure gold in the recipe used to make gold for jewelry. For instance, 9kt gold is 9 parts pure gold out of 24 parts in total. So, 9kt is numerically 9/24 or 0.375. If marked in the jewelry with a number instead of a kt mark, the mark would be 375.

Generally, 9kt is characteristic of British jewelry and of countries connected with Great Britain. The Brits are picky about jewelry markings and place a series of marks on jewelry, including date, assay office and quality (karat) of the item.

Karat gold is gold generally of less than pure or 24kt. Pure gold is simply too soft for jewelry wear and a recipe is used to make the various karats from 18kt to 9kt. The recipe includes pure gold and a mix of copper and silver primarily. For white gold, nickel or palladium is added. The other metals are added to make the gold hard enough for jewelry usage while still workable by the jewelry manufacturer. In a nutshell, karat simply shows how much pure gold is in the metal of which the jewelry is made.

If you consider 18kt gold, this is 18/24 or 750, the same as 75% pure gold. Nine karat gold is 37.5% pure gold.

HARDNESS AND DURABILITY. The metals added to pure gold to make karat gold for jewelry change the character of the metal. 9 kt has more copper than 18kt for instance. This will make 9kt a harder metal. This added copper will also make 9kt more prone to tarnish than 18kt gold. The tarnish is mostly seen as a dull look and a loss to some extent of the "yellow" color. Still, if the tarnish forms, it is easily removed with a good polishing cloth or by a quick buff by a jeweler.