This type of gold has an intense yellow tone with a slightly opaque tone that makes it absolutely desirable for exquisite gold and diamond jewelry pieces. The purest gold still used in jewelry is typically 22-carat gold. It has 91.7% pure gold and the remaining amount is made up of metals such as silver, zinc or nickel. The added metals make the texture of 22-carat gold harder and therefore more durable for making jewelry.
Knowing the Gold Price Today can help you determine the value of your jewelry pieces. Since this is the purest form of gold, it is naturally more expensive than 22 carat or 18 karat gold. However, the density of this type of gold is much lower compared to gold of a lower carat. Without any other metal to strengthen it, 24-carat gold is comparatively softer and more flexible than lower-carat carats. Therefore, it is not suitable for fine and delicate jewelry styles.
You'll usually find thick jewelry designs and coins and ingots if you want to buy gold with a purity of 24 carats. Gold with a purity of 24 carats is also used in electronic products, groceries and medical devices, such as those used for children suffering from ear infections. The main difference between 18-carat gold and 22-carat gold is that in 18-carat gold there are 18 parts of pure gold and the rest are made up of other metals and alloys, while in 22-carat gold there are 22 parts of pure gold and the rest are made up of other metals and alloys. However, you should know that, although 22-carat gold can be used to make plain gold jewelry, it is not preferable for manufacturing jewelry designs with many studs.
If you're looking for the best in gold jewelry, it means you're trying to choose between 18k and 22-carat gold. As a result of the added metals, 22-carat gold is more durable and harder than pure gold, but is still softer than 18-carat gold. The metals used to form the remaining 25% of 18-carat gold determine the type of gold alloy resulting. Well, it's surpassed by 24 carats, and since 24-carat gold is practically pure gold, 22 carats is the next best form of “almost pure” gold.
However, it is less durable than 18-carat gold, which has a higher percentage of metal alloys that change the metallurgical properties of gold and leave a gold alloy that lasts longer. The creation of 22-carat gold comes from the need to create high-quality gold jewelry and, at the same time, enjoy a certain level of durability in jewelry. The reason for this has to do with the value of gold in relation to the percentage of pure gold present in any version of gold alloys. But what constitutes the different 18-carat gold alloys: white gold, yellow gold or rose gold? (here we wrote a detailed post on the mixing ratio of gold alloys).
The color of pure gold is a very rich orange-yellow, so when other metals are added, you can achieve the softer golden color associated with yellow gold jewelry, the coldness of white gold, or the soft warmth of rose gold. But what's the real difference between the two? Do you get more value from 22-carat gold than from 18-carat gold or vice versa? What is the main price difference between these two gold alloys? In short, gold with a purity of 24 carats contains 24 parts of pure gold, while 22 carat gold has 22 parts of gold and 2 parts of other metals that are added as an alloy. This addition of other metals makes gold harder, giving gold jewelry greater durability and strength.
