What does 10k, 14k, 18k mean?

A question by pJ How much will I receive for my 14k gold jewelry ?

pJ

You can give a better reply? provide a response using the comment section. After review, we will update the answers.

when talking about gold it is “karat (kt)” when talking about diamonds it is “carat (ct). As we know gold purity is rated in Karats (also spelt Carats), and each Karat breaks down to in terms of pure gold. Each Karat of gold represents 4.167% gold content with 24 karats at 100% gold.

In order to properly answer this question, we would need to take in to account the karat percentage, weight, and the market price at the time. Each gold is different depending upon contents. In other words, the greater the overall amount, the higher the payment.
But keep in mind, just because you paid retail price for an item, the price is going to be much less when its time to sell. Retail jewelers tend to have one of the highest marks up in prices of any industry

Yuan

The Difference Between 10k, 14k, 18k, and 24k gold

They should call gold by its percentage and just be honest. People think 75% gold (18k) is high end. Unfortunately, most western jewelers sell 18k for 2-3 times what it’s worth. When you need to sell you can sit and weep.

liry

Middle East, Iran, Pakistan and India 21-22 KT is the norm in most of their jewelry. They like the gold purest to its form

Dani

The softness of 24kt gold is a myth to a large degree. I have 24kt Pamp bars in various sizes that I have had tested for purity so I know they are real. I have tested the 1-gram bars for softness…I cannot bend them by hand, cannot scratch with a fingernail, etc. On the Moh’s hardness scale you can see that gold is on par with sterling silver. Not saying 24kt gold is as hard as 14kt… but it is not metallic play-doh like people seem to think. That 58.3% is by weight, it’s only about 35% by volume. 18K is 75% by weight, a bit over 50% by volume. Another fun fact, if you put the 18K in the oven for 1 hour at 550°F, it’ll be harder than 14K.

Douglass

Having grown up my whole life in the Middle East around all kinds of gold, 18k is plenty rugged and strong. Never had an issue with 18k jewelers my whole life. 14k is nothing but a BS scheme to sell you watered down gold. 14k gold here in the Middle East is not even considered gold. Must be marked as costume jewelry. Buy 18k…the perfect balance between beauty and durability. Trust me!!

Dat