The Buyt Desk
Before buying gold you must understand what kind of gold you are buying? What do 24K, 22K, and 18K of gold signify? The ‘K’ mentioned with a number in gold is karat and it measures the purity of gold. As the cartage goes up the purity of gold also rises. Out of the three variants of gold, 24 Karat is the purest form of gold.
24K gold
24K gold is considered to be 99.9% pure and thus the superior pure gold. All the 24 parts in gold are pure without any traces of any other metals. There is no other higher form of gold than 24Karat gold. So if a jeweler promises to give you something better than 24K gold and sell you a 25K or 26K gold then you must know that it’s a lie.
Features of 24K Gold
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It has a bright yellow color
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Jewelry is not made of 24K gold because of its texture which is soft
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This hard variety of gold is good as coins and bars
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24K gold is costlier than 22K and 18K
22K Gold
In 22K gold 22 parts of the metal is pure gold and 2 parts are some other metal like copper, silver, nickel or any other alloy. This variety of gold is used for jewelry making. When you buy a 22K gold the purity of that metal is around 91.67%. Since there is some amount of metal is mixed in 22K gold which makes the gold harder and suitable for making jewelry.
18K Gold
As far as purity is concerned 18K comes after 24K and 22K gold. It has 75% gold and 25% other metals like copper or silver. The 18K gold is priced lower than 24K and 22K gold. The color of gold would be a bit dull. It is widely used in diamond and studded jewelry. As the cartage of gold decreases so does the purity. For instance, if you buy a 14K gold then the purity of the gold will be around 58% and for a 12K gold, it will be around 50% purity.
Calculate gold prices yourself
Going by the current gold prices, 24-Karat gold is for Rs 46,755, then the formula to calculate the price of 22Karat will be – 46,755/24x 22 = Rs 42858 per 10 gm. Similarly, 18K gold will be priced at 46755/24 X 18 which will be Rs 35,0666 per 10 grams.
Buy gold only after seeing the hallmark
If you are planning to buy gold then you must always check the hallmark certification of the jewelry. Hallmark is a government guarantee. The hallmark is determined by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the only agency in India.
