GOLD PURITY

GOLD PURITY

Gold is considered to be one of the most refined and purest metal in the whole world. Pure Gold is utilized in all regions of world, either in the form of investment or in the form of jewelry. The purity of gold is verbalized in carats, abbreviated as 'ct' or 'k'. The word “carat” is derived from 'carob seed'. Carob seed was used in earlier time to balance several measuring scales at Oriental Bazaar. The purest form of gold is measured as 24 carats. Another method of expressing purity of gold is termed as 'fineness'. Fineness expresses the gold purity in parts per 1000.

To bring forth purities less then 24 carat, the gold is alloyed with several other metals such as zinc, silver, copper, nickel etc. Pure gold is considered to be very malleable metal to make jewelry items. Therefore, 24 carat pure gold is alloyed with other comparatively hard metals to design several types of gold items such as gold jewelry, gold statues, gold crowns, gold showpieces, gold coins and many more.

From centuries, gold purity is controlled with the help of Hallmarking system. This system was conceptualized in London at Goldsmiths' Hall in the 14th century. The system of stamping the gold purity becomes mandatory for many countries. After testing the alloy and pure gold, it certifies the quality and purity of gold. But still, many countries are following the traditional method of marking the gold item with there personal stamp or fineness mark.

A common system for testing and certifying Gold purity is proposed by European Commission. They designed three systems to assure gold purity. Those three systems are as follows:-

- Hallmarking
-Quality Control
- Certification by Manufacturers

The table below set forth the relation between gold purity, gold content and gold fineness of several gold alloys in ascending order.

Purity	Gold content (wt. %)	Fineness
9 carat gold	37.5	375
14 carat gold	58.5	585
18 carat gold	75.0	750
22 carat gold	91.6	916
24 carat gold	99+	990

Gold purity is vital therefore highly purified gold (measuring 999.99 purity) is used for making gold wires to be used in circuit boards. The pure gold is alloyed with several metals to form double shaded or double colored jewelry such as white gold jewelry, yellow gold jewelry, copper gold jewelry, silver colored gold jewelry and so on.