Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
June 6, 2010
My boyfriend was just abroad and he brought be back a beautiful gold ring. The new gold ring is marked with 585 on the inside. What does that mean?
December 24, 2011
What your boyfriend brought you is in fact a 14K gold RING, the stamped 585 on the ring is based from a European system. It means that it is 58.5% pure gold, You can consider this to be a good quality, since gold is soft in its pure form (100% is 24K), this makes 585 or 14K gold durable. If you have any more questions on 14k gold I would suggest taking a look at online
jewelry guides like http://www.zoara.com/learning_center . I often find the most helpful jewelry info online. Good luck!
December 14, 2011
Many of the information in my answer below was excerpted from the gold guide in the precious metals learning center section
HERE
In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that all gold items with a gold purity level of 10 karat or higher purity will be stamped with their karat grade.
Hence, the easiest way to know the amount of pure metal in your ring is to look at the stamp that is inside the ring and divide by twenty four (24) since 24 is 100% pure gold. This gold purity chart may help:
24K / 24 =100% pure gold
18K / 24 = 75% pure gold
14K / 24 = 58.33% pure gold
10K / 24 = 41.66% pure gold
Know that pure gold type is very soft, and hence subject to denting, scratching etc. Therefore, alloys are added in order to increase the hardness of the gold. This is why jewelry is not made of 24K gold.
December 9, 2011
24K gold is 100% pure gold. Pure gold is actually a very soft metal that is not durable and is not suitable for making jewelry. For example, if your studs were made of 24K gold the prongs would probably bend rather quickly , having the diamonds fall out. Therefore, for jewelry, the gold is actually mixed with other alloys in order to make it stronger. 18K gold is hence 75% pure gold, and 25% other alloys. On the same logic, for example, 14K gold actually 59% pure gold, and 41% other alloys. Typically in order to make yellow gold the “other alloy” is copper, and in order to make white gold the “other alloy” is nickel. Hence there is no such thing as "white gold." All metals exist in nature as various shades of grey with the exception of gold and copper which are actually yellowish. An alloy of metal is a combination of various metallic elements that are used in varying proportions to produce the desired color and properties. With yellow gold, the color of the copper actually “helps” to enhance the natural yellowish color of the gold. With white gold the nickel helps to reduce the natural yellowish tone of the gold which brings me to the point that I’m trying to make as follows: White gold is almost always rhodium plated. When it is not rhodium plated, it doesn’t look so shiny and white and will be a bit yellowish. By this logic you understand that 585 means actually 58.5% pure gold which is 14K I highly recommend viewing Zoara's awesome GOLD GUIDE for more information.
June 14, 2010
Was your boyfriend by any chance abroad in Europe? If not, he certainly bought European gold jewelry. How do I know? Well, in Europe, they don't mark their gold with the karat system, rather European gold jewelry is typically marked with numbers that indicate the percentage of gold used. A mark of 585 means that your gold ring is 58.5% gold, making it 14k gold. FYI, 750 indicates a gold jewelry item made out of 75% gold, which translates to 18 karats. 417 means that the gold jewelry is 41.7% gold, translating to 10 karats. Any other markings you might find on your ring are there to indicate its country of origin, the manufacturer, or maybe some trademark or hallmark to identify its designer/maker.
June 8, 2010
585 stands for 58.5% gold. I know that might sound low, but trust me, it's not. In fact, it translates to about 14k gold. That's a very good quality. The highest purity in gold jewelry which ranges from 99-99.9%, is 24k gold, and is typically thought of as being a bit too soft to resist day to day wear and tear. Therefore, most jewelry buyers are advised to purchase gold jewelry that is 18k gold or lower. However, if you have skin allergies, then be careful. Gold is typically alloyed with nickel and copper meaning that the less pure the gold the more likely you may be to suffer from some sort of allergic reaction.
To learn more about gold jewelry and its attributes go to http://www.zoara.com/jewelry/metals
