Which Type of Gold is Best for Jewellery?

Gold can come in many forms. It is a useful, malleable metal that is also highly precious. This is one reason jewellery can be expensive, depending on the quantity and quality of gold found in it.

Which form of gold, however, is the best for jewellery? Surprisingly enough, “pure gold” isn’t necessarily the answer.

Let’s look at all the kinds of gold you can buy and see which makes for the best material

 

24 Carat (100% gold)

24ct is the highest Carat of gold you can come across. Because of this, it’s easy to think that it’s the “best” gold you can buy. However, this isn’t exactly true, especially when it comes to making jewellery.

Gold is very malleable, so it makes it easy to damage. Scratches, dents and all other kinds of damage can make the metal not look so precious after all.

But this simply means that 24ct gold bracelets aren’t practical for everyday use. If you want to wear them to a glitzy event, on the other hand, then it’s perfect.

 

22 Carat (91.6% Gold, 8.4% Alloy Metals)

Even a pinch of alloyed metals mixed in with 22ct of gold makes the piece of jewellery much stronger and therefore much better when it comes to everyday use.

Regardless, care must be taken as this does not make the blend indestructible. In fact, 22ct gold is the softest form of mixed metal jewellery you can buy.

 

18 Carat (75% Gold, 25% Alloy Metals)

The most traditional mix of gold and other alloy metals, 18ct has a much deeper yellow hue than 14ct but is much tougher than 22ct.

The higher quantity of gold in the 18ct pieces, however, fetches a higher price which is normally a sign of higher quality jewellery in comparison to 14ct. 

 

14 Carat (58.5% Gold, 41.5% Alloy Metals)

This form of gold offers more resistance to wear and tear and makes it ideal for everyday use. It’s perfect for an active lifestyle so anyone who’s into their sports and has a job that involves a lot of manual labour would be better off with this gold.

 

Conclusion

Overall, if you want a truly high-quality piece of gold jewellery but want to be able to wear it every day without risk of damage, the best gold to get would be 18 Carat. It strikes the perfect balance between gold and alloy metals, allowing it to be beautiful but durable.

Want to see what piece of gold jewellery we have in stock? Check out what we have in our store at Cuttings Jewellers.