Good day! Those who bought jewelry abroad often do not understand what 18 carat gold means: what grade is it and how much precious metal is contained in such an alloy? People from the territory of the former USSR are little familiar with the carat testing system - we have been using the metric system for a long time. The situation is aggravated by the existence of the “diamond carat,” which measures the weight of precious stones. But gold items purchased abroad are often marked with karat marks.
What is carat
The karat system involves designating the percentage of gold in the alloy with numbers from 9 to 24, where 24 is the highest standard, that is, 100%. Physically, the absolute purity of the metal is unattainable and impurities are present in trace amounts, therefore the “thousandth” sample is designated by the number 999 - 99.9%.
I’ll answer the main question right away: in Russia, jewelry with a hallmark of 18K is indicated by the 750 mark. They contain 75% pure gold.
Origin of the word
The breadfruit tree of John, known to people since biblical times, grows in the Mediterranean - Ceratonia capita. Its fruits are consumed as a delicacy, added to immunostimulating complexes, and compote is made from them. But ceratonia also has a non-standard property for plants: it produces seeds, the mass of which is constant and equal to ~0.19 g. Our ancient ancestors noticed this and began to use a measure of weight that refers to the seed of ceratonia (Greek cerátiοn), the carat.
The modern carat (measure of weight) has not changed since then and is 0.2 g.
How to determine carat content
You won’t be able to measure the gold content in jewelry if the sample has worn off and is hard to see at home. The maximum that will be possible is to distinguish a gold alloy from an obvious fake. But if the ring has another standard - metric or spool (it is found on jewelry and luxury items produced before the revolution or immediately after), then you can convert its value into the carat system.
How to convert to the metric system and sample correspondence table
There are two ways to convert carats to thousandths of mass.
- Calculate. A complex, but universal method that works with unpopular samples. We take 24 carats as 100% and get a carat equal to 4.17% of the total mass. If a product is marked 18K, then in the metric system it is 4.17 x 18 = 75%, that is, 750 fine.
- Use the correspondence table. I'm including a spool test in case you come across an antique tiara.
| Metric system | 999 | 958 | 900 | 750 | 585 | 500 | 375 |
| Carat system | 24 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 9 |
| Spool system | 96 | 92 | 88 | 72 | 56 | 48 | 36 |
| Gold content | 99,9 % | 95,8 % | 90 % | 75 % | 58,5 % | 50 % | 37,5 % |
Legislative regulation
In Russia, all precious metal products with a purity of at least 300 are subject to hallmarking and hallmarking (actually 375, because we do not produce lower-grade gold). The metric value of the sample is applied to the jewelry; it is up to the buyer to convert it into carats.
Caring for your decoration
Although the alloy is considered the strongest metal, it requires special care. Items must be stored in a dry place. If the owner of the product encounters chemicals at work, it is better not to wear gold jewelry. To ensure that the item is scratch-free, it must be stored in a special soft box. You should periodically check the condition of the jewelry and the integrity of its clasps. If there is the slightest malfunction, you need to take the gold item to a jeweler for inspection.
| Metric system | Carat system |
| 1000 | 24 |
| 958 | 23 |
| 916 | 22 |
| 750 | 18 |
| 585 | 14 |
As a result, 750 alloys are what most buyers settle on. This product is affordable, beautiful and will last a long time.
A little about this test
750 standard is popular among jewelers and their clients. This is the most successful combination of the purity of a noble metal and ease of use: 999 standard is too soft to be worn constantly. However, a gold content of 75% is sufficient for the product to retain the inherent luster of pure gold.
Composition and properties
As can be understood from the name of the sample, 25% of the mass of our pendant or chain is made up of ligature (foreign metals). Impurities are added to gold primarily because the pure precious metal is extremely sensitive to damage. The 999.9 fine bank bullion can be scratched with a fingernail. This is unacceptable for jewelry that we wear on our bodies, so a ligature is added to gold to increase its wear resistance.
750 gold is common and contains the following additives in different proportions:
- copper (the main alloying component of most alloys);
- silver (also present almost everywhere);
- palladium (added to white gold);
- platinum (rare);
- nickel (rare).
Strength
The price to pay for the prestige of a high-grade alloy and its characteristic shine is the need to wear it carefully. 18K jewelry is easier to break than low-grade analogues.
Alloy shade chart
To understand what shade the alloy will give to gold, you need to look at the original color of the alloying metal. Often there are several additives. Let's look at the popular options for metal “cocktails”:
| Try | Color | Gold | Silver | Copper | Palladium |
| 18 carat | red | 75 % | 40 % | 21 % | No |
| 18 carat | pink | 75 % | 12,5 % | 12,5 % | No |
| 18 carat | yellow | 75 % | 17 % | 8 % | No |
| 18 carat | greenish | 75 % | 25 % | No | No |
| 18 carat | white | 75 % | 5 % | No | 20 % |
Brand
In addition to the hallmark, each piece of jewelry must have an imprint of the name of the manufacturer. The name plate is registered by a branch of the Assay Chamber under the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and contains encrypted information about the year of manufacture of the jewelry and the factory.
The 18-carat ring produced by the Russian factory will be marked 750.
Distinguish gilding
Gold jewelry from countries such as Italy, Turkey, China, Switzerland often does not meet the Russian standard, that is, they do not always have the required quality. This often happens because they are imported into the Russian Federation outside of customs control, and therefore the assay authorities do not check such jewelry.
According to statistics, more than 72% of imported gold is fake, so you need to be careful and attentive when choosing jewelry. It must be remembered that foreign gold (even if it is genuine) has differences from locally produced gold in composition and color, and is also less durable. The shade is in most cases white or yellow, since the products contain a lower percentage of copper in the alloy. You also need to be wary of the fact that 18-karat white gold is often replaced with cheaper silver.
Difference between 14 and 18 carats
18K is considered an elite grade. 14K (585 standard) is worn mainly as an everyday option, saving the expensive 750 standard for special occasions.
Cleanliness, hardness and durability
The more alloys in the alloy, the more pronounced the properties of the alloying components. 585 sample, consisting of almost half of impurities, is much lighter, harder and stronger than 750 sample, and is less susceptible to minor damage such as scratches or dents.
Color
The color of pure gold is bright yellow. An alloy containing a lot of copper takes on a reddish tint (pure copper has a rich brick-pink color). Green gold is coming into fashion, which contains no copper at all, but a lot of silver.
Many jewelers use the rhodium plating technique in their work - coating products with a thin (1.5–25 microns) layer of rhodium (a rare platinum group metal, many times harder than gold). Rhodium-plated jewelry can be not only the classic yellow, pink and white colors, but also black.
Markings
¾ gold items are marked o (units of measurement are indicated after the numbers). In Europe, such a ring will most likely have two marks at once: carat and metric (750).
Price
In Arab countries, you can find jewelry positioned by sellers as almost pure gold, but the reliability of these assurances is questionable.
Expert opinion
Vsevolod Kozlovsky
6 years in jewelry making. Knows everything about samples and can identify a fake in 12 seconds
Therefore, 750 is the highest of jewelry standards, given that 958 turned out to be unsuccessful in terms of price and quality. It is also the most expensive: in Russian stores such jewelry costs on average 1.13 times more than standard 14-karat jewelry. If you go to pawn shops and try to sell such metal as scrap, it will be valued at 1.25 times higher than 14-karat.
Gold samples according to GOST in Russia. Controlling body for assaying and hallmarking
The amount of precious metal in gold alloys is controlled by the state. Marking is carried out by the Assay Office. The following samples have been established on the territory of Russia: Z75, 500, 585, 750, 875, 916, 958, 999. Sometimes the 583 marking is found - this is the mark of the times of the Soviet Union.
In our country, all jewelry containing at least 30% pure gold is subject to assaying and hallmarking.
The structure of the mark is as follows: first, the code of the State Assay Supervision Inspectorate is put, then there is the sign of the assay certificate, and to the right of it is the digital designation of the sample.
The code indicates the region where the product was branded upon inspection. The mark of the Russian Assay Certificate looks like an imprint of the head of a woman wearing a kokoshnik.
All information about the gold product will be written inside a figure resembling a spatula.
Gold samples in Russia
What to consider when purchasing products
In order for the jewelry to please you for a long time, do not make emotional purchases. Consider where you plan to wear your new item. 18-karat gold is suitable for festive outfits and for everyday wear, if it is gentle.
How to distinguish gold from gilding
- Pay attention to the brand. There are no hallmarks that indicate gold plating, and a silver ring that is plated with gold will be marked as sterling silver (875 or 925 fineness).
- Try scratching the item with a thin needle. If there is base metal underneath the gold plating, the scratch will be darker than the surface.
- Stores sometimes have assay needle sets available - you can ask the seller to make sure that the gold is real, or contact a pawnshop with this request.
- You can understand that the jewelry is fake without checking it. If you have worn it for several days or weeks and it has darkened, it is definitely not gold.
Below watch a visual video on how to distinguish a fake:
Why high purity is not always good
A high standard imposes restrictions on the wearer. It is better to go for things with a carat content below 18 if you:
- you buy jewelry that you want to always wear (for example, to decorate your neck on a mountain hike);
- you are choosing a gift for a child who, due to his age, will not be able to handle it carefully.
Why are low carats bad?
Low-grade gold is inferior in beauty to high-grade gold. It shines duller and looks cheaper. This is not so noticeable when you are wearing one piece of jewelry, but a set of several pieces of different grades will look uneven and give off a low-carat element.
Nickel allergy
Sometimes (infrequently) nickel is present in multicomponent jewelry alloys. Gold items (especially high-ligature ones) can become an allergen if they contain nickel.
The only way out of the situation is not to wear alloys containing nickel. Humanity has not yet learned to cure allergies. Medicine either uses drugs to suppress symptoms or recommends avoiding the allergen. If your body recognizes nickel as a danger, you should take a closer look at jewelry without it.
Ligature of gold
To clearly understand what 18 carat means, you need to know that all gold products use alloys of gold with other metals. In its pure form it is a very soft metal and quickly deforms. To ensure that products made from it keep their shape, other metals are added to the gold mass. They are called alloying. The ligature is the other components of the alloy. Both precious and base metals can be used. Each alloying component gives the alloy certain properties:
- Copper increases the hardness of the mass, while maintaining malleability, and gives a reddish tint.
- Cadmium turns white.
- Zinc lowers the melting point.
- Nickel imparts hardness and changes the color of the alloy to pale yellow. But unfortunately, this metal can cause allergies in the owner of the jewelry. Nickel is present in greater quantities in the products of Turkish jewelers.
- Platinum intensely discolors the alloy. For this, 8% of its content in the total mass is sufficient.
- Palladium increases the melting point and gives gold a light beige color.
- Silver makes the alloy ductile and malleable.
How to determine carat content
To determine the marking of a product with absolute certainty, you should look for the designation “750” or “18K” on the back of the jewelry.
If an item has a carat value, it means it also has a manufacturer's mark. The last indicator indicates that the marking is accurate.
It is also necessary to look at the country that manufactured the product. The sample does not indicate the authenticity of the product; it must have a mark with the original trademark of the manufacturer. Only this guarantees that the item is not a fake.
Metal price
The market value of 750-carat metal (18 carats) per gram is about 2000-2200 rubles, depending on the region of sale and the current exchange rate on the world market. The price for scrap in a pawn shop is about 1800-1900 rubles, and a gram of 18-karat gold in jewelry stores costs from 3000 rubles. Additionally, the cost can be increased by the complexity of the design and the gemstones used.
In Russia, hallmarking and hallmarking are mandatory for all products made from alloys in which the content of pure precious metal exceeds 30%. The metric value of the sample is applied to the jewelry. If it is necessary to convert it to carat, the buyer must do this independently.
Criterias of choice
First of all, you should make sure that you are buying gold and not gold-plated jewelry. The product must bear the hallmark and mark of the manufacturer - usually they are located on the clasp or on the inside of the jewelry. There are other methods that will help you recognize deception:
- you can try to scratch the object with a thin needle - if the scratch is darker than the surface, it means that another metal is hidden under the layer of gold;
- jewelry that has darkened after several days of wear also indicates a fake;
- Some stores and pawnshops conduct jewelry examinations to order, using special reagents, which gives high accuracy of inspection.
Choose trusted stores for purchase that are ready to provide quality certificates. Remember that 750 gold cannot be too cheap - the average price of one gram starts from 2,500 rubles.
In jewelry stores, you most often find products marked 14 and 18 carats (585 and 750 samples). Let's look at how to choose the best option.
- By appointment . If you are looking for something for everyday wear, pay attention to the 14 K marking. Such jewelry is more durable and can withstand light impacts, scratches and other impacts. Products made from 18-karat gold are positioned as accessories for special occasions. They have a pronounced shine and look impressive, but require careful handling.
- According to the age . If you are buying a gift for a child, it is better to opt for products with low carat. Children do not always handle things carefully and can accidentally damage fragile jewelry.
- By cost. 585 gold is cheaper than 750 gold. The price is also affected by the presence of precious stones, the complexity of the workmanship - unusual details, special fasteners. Most jewelry is made using an automated method, but some designer items require handmade work, so they will be more expensive than others.
- By compatibility. Low grade gold looks duller and its color is not as pure and rich. This is not so noticeable when you are wearing one piece of jewelry, but if you want to put together a set of different pieces, make sure that they are the same carat. For 18K earrings, it is better to choose a pendant or ring with the same marking so that your accessories look organically together.
- According to the presence of allergies . If items marked 10 or 14 karat cause irritation on your skin, you may want to consider switching to 18 karat gold. Such alloys are cleaner, they contain less nickel, which will allow you to wear beautiful accessories without worry. However, if you have very sensitive skin, you will have to look for jewelry with o.
750 gold can have different shades, which is important when choosing.
- Classic yellow metal is most often used to make wedding rings and luxury watches. This shade goes well with any precious stones and looks impressive on dark skin.
- Red gold is more resistant to wear due to the large amount of copper in its composition. You can use it to create unusual designer items with complex patterns or use it for everyday decorations.
- White gold is considered elite and perfectly highlights the beauty of diamonds. However, the composition contains nickel, which can cause allergies.
- The pink shade is one of the most fashionable; it is preferred by many jewelry houses targeting the luxury segment of the market.
- Metal with a greenish tint is not often used due to its fragility, but such jewelry looks unusual.
- Black gold appeared relatively recently, but has already become popular. It is durable and does not lose its shine.
You can choose a shade to match your skin tone or the color scheme that prevails in your wardrobe, so you can easily create a set with gold accessories for any occasion.
Other amounts
| U.S. dollars | Russian rubles | Russian rubles | U.S. dollars |
| 5$ = | 363.81 ₽ | 5 ₽ = | 0.07$ |
| 10$ = | 727.62 ₽ | 10 ₽ = | 0.14$ |
| 20$ = | 1 455.23 ₽ | 20 ₽ = | 0.27$ |
| 50$ = | 3 638.09 ₽ | 50 ₽ = | 0.69$ |
| 100$ = | 7 276.17 ₽ | 100 ₽ = | 1.37$ |
| 500$ = | 36 380.85 ₽ | 500 ₽ = | 6.87$ |
The table of ready-made conversions of dollars to rubles contains frequently used amounts of money for transferring between a pair of $ ₽.
Price
So, you are holding 18 karat gold in your hands. What kind of test is very clear. All that remains is to figure out the cost. Of course, it depends not only on the carat, but also on the weight, and on the complexity of the work and design. How many grams of gold are in the product - you will understand by the marking. But you shouldn’t rely on this alone when determining the price. The work done in making the jewelry is also taken into account.
For additional comfort, craftsmen can also use special production methods. This allows you to make certain parts of products more flexible and durable. Of course, the better the quality of the decoration, the higher its cost will be. This is justified - after all, you will wear it for a long time, getting great pleasure from it. Well, with proper care, the product will, of course, last for more than one generation. Complex details, special clasps, precious stones - all this, of course, affects the price.
Gold jewelry is most often made using machines. The cost may also increase due to additional hand finishing or engraving. Such operations can be carried out at a variety of prices. Each part may have its own characteristics that make it unique. On average, the price per gram of 18-karat gold today is about 4,500 rubles.
Election norm
There is a double situation in answering the question of what is the demand for gold products. The standard choice in European countries is 18 karat gold. The sample does not interest buyers too much. For consumers, especially women, it is enough to see that the jewelry has a rich yellow color and looks attractive. But in America, jewelry of 585 standard (aurum 14 carats) is in great demand. The USA is the only country where the sale of products with a carat value of less than 10 is prohibited, while in the rest of the world the sale of jewelry made from 8-9 carat gold is common.
Carat system
The metric system adopted in Russia is increasingly beginning to be used in other countries, as it is considered more accurate. It is used by most Western European countries: Germany, France, Austria, Great Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, as well as Poland, Lithuania, Cyprus and Israel. And in the USA, Canada, Turkey, Greece they use the karate system. This should not be confused with the carats in which precious stones are valued.
Karat is the number of parts of gold in an alloy. It is generally accepted that pure metal is equal to 24 parts, or 999 (1000), in the metric system. There is a standard of gold in 24, 23,18,14,13,12,9 carats. Products are also branded. The item is stamped with numbers corresponding to carats and the letter “k” (there may not be a letter) - for example, 18 k, which means the fineness of the jewelry is 18 k gold, or 18 karat.
How do carats compare to the metric system? The jewelry has a hallmark of 18 k. Gold 18 k is 18 carats. It is clear that 18 carats is 18 parts of gold, and the remaining 6 are ligature. Experienced jewelers or pawn shop specialists use a simple formula for converting karat to hallmark, which can be used to determine what hallmark of gold is 18 karat. To do this, the number of carats is multiplied by 125 and divided by 3.
18 carats *125/3=750.
It turns out that 18 carat gold is 750 fineness. Using this formula, you can also convert any other number of carats into the usual metric system and determine how much 18 carat gold is in grams .
| Metric system | Carat system |
| 999/1000 | 24 |
| 958 | 23 |
| 750 | 18 |
| 585 | 14 |
| 500 | 12 |
| 375 | 9 |
