Today I’m going to try to answer a question that I’m asked very often. What is the difference between 14 karat and 18 karat gold? And the difference is that the 18 karat contains more pure gold. 75 percent of the gold in 18 karats is pure, 25 percent is alloy, and in 14 karats there is 58 and a half parts of pure gold and 41 and a half parts of alloy.
100% gold has no alloys or other metals. This is 24 karat gold, and while it is beautiful, it is also very, very soft (malleable) so it is not ideal to make jewelry with it.
- 18k gold is 75% gold and 25% alloys.
- 14k gold is 58.5% gold and 41.5% alloys
- 24k gold is 100% gold and 0% alloys