Gold buying tips

Caratage
When buying gold jewelry, pay attention to caratage. This implies percentage of pure gold in the jewelry item. 24K implies that gold is pure and without alloys, though it’s quite rarely met as pure gold is very pliable and is more prone to breaking. Other metals that are added when creating  gold pieces, like copper, zinc and silver, are meant to make gold more easy to work with. Each Karat stands for 1/24 of pure gold. The most popular 18k contains 75% of gold and is marked 750, while 14k is marked 585 fineness. If you didn’t find any stamps on your gold jewelry it should be a reason to avoid buying it as you can’t be completely sure of its quality.

Trademark
It is also a must for manufacturer’s jewelry to have a trademark. If the trademark doesn’t appear you should doubt the quality and genuineness. It doesn’t mean that you should search for a name, the trademark is more likely to be a symbol.

Weight
Make sure you ask about weight of the gold item. It can be quite useful when you match it with the price. Again, it should be a warning note for you if the retailer doesn’t have the idea about item’s price.

Gold as a coating
Often you may come across the term gold filled or gold plated items which shouldn’t be confused with the gold alloy. As almost all gold is mixed with other metals, their amount is nevertheless very small. Gold layer on less precious metal is more likely to become off-quality with the time. You may grade thickness of gold layer in following succession: the thickest is gold filled jewelry, gold plating is normally thinner and the thinnest is gold washed. In any case you should know that everyday use will wear away the layer easily, so if you’ve chosen an item with gold coating, try to wear it less frequently.

Choosing gold
Start your own gold collection. Remember that gold will outlive the generations and will be always up-to-date no matter what. Choose jewelry pieces which would reflect your individuality and personal tastes. You shouldn’t stick to one designer or particular pattern. Experiment and mix different styles, as interesting combination may look even more appealing than same-style articles.

Reputable jeweler It is important that jewelry should look good on you, while choosing a reputable jeweler is not the rearmost thing when buying gold. A jeweler you can rely on can provide you with the helpful information about value, and in many cases give you the details on caring and repairing your jewelry.