"....Grading With the Gold Carat...."

If you've ever purchased any kind of gold jewelry, you may have noticed that the carat rating is a huge determining factor in terms of the price. Many people understand that the higher carat grades are considered better, but the reasons for the grading system, and what each grade actually means is not always well known.

carats are a representation of the purity of gold, and each carat represents 1/24 percent pure gold by mass. So, 14 carat gold is 58 percent pure, and 24 carat gold is 100 percent pure.

The whole idea comes from ancient Roman currency, where 24 siliqua (silver coins) were worth the same as one golden solidus. The word carat is derived from the Greek word kerátion, which mean “fruit of the carob”. The ancient Greeks had a practice of using carob seeds to weigh things because it was thought that their weight was roughly uniform, because of this, the whole idea of a carob seed as a unit of measurement spread throughout the world.

22 and 24 carat gold are very valuable, but because they are so pure, the higher carat ratings are actually quite soft. Some people prefer to buy gold with lower carat ratings just because it makes much more durable jewelry.

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