What Does the “K” Mean When Referring to Gold? – 14K Gold purity - Breena

What are gold karats?

A karat is a unit of gold purity. The “K” in 10K and 14K gold refers to the karat of gold and to the amount of pure gold there is in a piece of jewellery. The abbreviation for karats is the letter “K”.

The purest gold is 24 carats, but when it comes to making useable objects and gold jewellery, 24ct gold is generally considered too soft. This is why gold is often alloyed with a metal like copper or silver which makes it harder and better to work with and wear. So for this reason, we choose to work with 14k gold-filled because it allows us to offer top-of-the-line quality at an affordable price.

Gold is mixed with other alloys to produce a harder, more workable metal that can be used for making jewellery.

9K gold is 37.5% pure gold
14K gold is 58.3% pure gold
18K gold is 75% pure gold
22K gold is 91.6% pure gold
24K gold is 100% pure gold

14K Gold purity

14/20 GF or 14k GF mark may be present on gold-filled pieces. 14K GF mark on jewellery stands for 14 karat gold fill. This type of metal consists of a thick layer of real gold applied to a base metal like brass or silver.

How much real gold is in gold fill?

Gold-filled jewelry is required to have a minimum of 1/20th (5%) gold by weight. The 5% gold in gold-filled jewelry may not sound like a lot, but it’s all on the outside and it’s plenty to keep your jewelry looking great for many years.

How do I know the purity of my gold jewellery?

In the UK, you can tell your gold item’s purity by its hallmark. In fact, in Britain, all gold jewellery weighing more than 1 gram must be hallmarked. This means that it has to be first tested by an official UK Government-regulated Assay Office.