What does wcg 10k mean inside a ring?

Answer 1

The only mark that I could find was the maker's mark W.C.G for W C Griffiths, I must add that it is a silver maker's mark but, I could find nothing in English law that forbids a jeweler from using the same maker's mark on both gold and silver items.

10k refers to the purity of the gold in the ring, in this instance the ring is most probably composed of 37.5% gold, 52% silver, 4.9% copper, 4.2% zinc and 1.4% nickel. There are three reasons for this first, gold is a very soft metal and a ring of 24k, 99.999% pure, gold would bend out of shape very easily so harder metals are added. Second, gold is expensive, by adding less expensive metals it puts gold jewelry into almost everyone's price range. Third, to change the color of the gold, different percentages of metals will make the ring either yellower or whiter.

Please check the link below for further information on gold alloys.