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Gold Jewelry
What do "karat" and the "k" symbol mean with regards to gold?
The karat system is a means of expressing the purity of the gold in question. 24k ("twenty-four karat") gold is pure gold; the purity of other grades is directly related to their karat value -- 18k gold is 75% pure, 14k is 58% pure etc.
How are white gold and other forms of coloured gold created?
Coloured gold for jewelry is created by adding other metals to gold to create alloys. White gold is made by adding palladium, nickel or silver to gold. Rose gold is made primarily by the addition of copper to gold. Green gold is created by alloying pure gold with pure silver. Blue gold comes from the addition of iron to gold; purple, from the addition of aluminum.