What Are Gold Alloys?

4 January 2015

Mia Nelson

When you are planning on selling your gold items, especially jewelry, you should be aware of what that jewelry is made of. Not only do you need to know that it is real gold and what grade of gold it is, but you should be aware that it might have gold alloys in it. Gold alloys are base metals that are mixed in your gold items. Here is more information about gold alloys and what it means when you're selling your jewelry.

What is the purpose of gold alloy?

The main purpose of using gold alloy is because gold on its own is a very soft, malleable material. While this is great for molding gold into different shapes for various types of jewelry and accessories, it also lowers the jewelry item's durability considerably. Most jewelry made of gold is mixed with alloys, though they vary based on how much gold versus alloys is used. The gold with the least amount of alloy is 24 karat gold, which is considered pure gold. If it is 18 karat, it has 75 percent gold and 25 percent alloys, while 14 karat gold has 58.3 percent gold and the remainder is alloy.

What kind of metal is used as alloy?

There are many different types of metals used as gold alloy in gold jewelry. The metals used most often include copper, palladium, silver, zinc, iron, aluminum, and nickel. Different combinations of metals are used to make different types of gold jewelry. For example, if you buy something that is "rose gold," the redness of the gold comes from a large amount of copper. Iron and aluminum are great for making interesting colors, such as blue or purple gold jewelry.

How do alloys change the value of gold?

In general, the higher amount of gold and less amount of alloys, the higher the value of the jewelry piece. This is because gold is higher in value on its own than other metals used as alloys. The only metal that is worth more than gold is platinum, and it isn't used as an alloy. Some metal alloys are worth more, but in value of gold with alloys, this doesn't make much difference. All the gold buyer is looking at is how much gold is used in comparison to other metal. Naturally, 24 karat gold is worth the most, while 10 and 14 karat gold are the worth the least.

How do you know what alloys are used?

If you are not familiar with gold and what goes into using alloys, you may not be able to tell what metals were used. However, experienced gold dealers can tell based on the color. If it is a yellow gold color, alloys used are probably copper, silver and zinc. Gold that has a pink hue often uses a combination of copper and silver to get the right shade of pink, while red gold uses copper and gold only. Have a peek at this web-site for more information.

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