What makes and Ounce of pure Gold?

In most western nations pure gold is considered too soft and malleable to practically wear everyday, so it is often mixed with other alloys to provide durability and to alter its colour and cost. Most jewellery in the market place today is actually part gold and part alloy.

Chances are that your jewellery is most likely a percentage of pure gold and mixed with another alloy. The K stamped on your jewellery represents the karat. The karat system is used to describe the percentage of pure gold the item contains. Therefore the higher the number before the K (karat number) the higher the percentage of gold in your item, see the chart below for further information.

In North America an item of 10K or higher may be described as ‘solid gold’, although it may not be Pure Gold.

In addition, the price we see in the media based on one troy ounce. The troy ounce is the only ounce used in the pricing of precious metals. One troy ounce is exactly 31.1034768 grams and heavier than the typical ounce you see in the supermarket or grocery store.

To make 31.103 grams (1 ounce) of Pure Gold it would take:
74.59 grams of 10K gold (2.4 ounces)
53.18 grams of 14K gold (1.714 ounces)
41.47 grams of 18K gold (1.333 ounces)
33.96 grams of 22K gold (1.091 ounces)