18k yellow gold jewellery

The higher the carat, the greater the pure gold content; the greater the pure gold content, the stronger the yellow colour. Remember, however, that while pure 24-karat gold produces the richest yellow colour, this level of purity is far too soft for diamond and gemstone jewellery and will not hold its shape.

Due to its purity, 24-karat gold is considerably more expensive than alloyed gold and is typically used as investment currency, rather than in modern engagement ring designs and fancy wedding bands.

22-karat gold is similarly soft, at 91.6% pure gold, and reserved for special occasion jewellery requiring careful handling and appropriate storage in between use.

18kt gold is therefore the ideal metal for yellow gold engagement rings and wedding bands, as it strikes the perfect balance between durability and colour richness.

The chemical element gold is a naturally occuring precious metal identified by its metallic yellow colour. The symbol for the element gold is Au, which comes from its Latin nameaurum, meaning ''shining dawn''.

Pure yellow gold has one of the highest densities of all elements and is the most malleable and ductile of all metals, making it ideal for metalworking like jewellery making. Due to its high resistance to corrosion, artefacts likeyellow gold ringsand coins from ancient civilisations can be discovered in near-perfect condition today.

While yellow gold has been used to make jewellery sinceat least 4000 B.C, today it can be found in a variety of industries, including electronics, dentistry, aerospace andglassmaking.

Yellow gold is indeed real gold, though in the case of yellow gold jewellery, like diamond engagement rings and wedding bands,pureyellow gold is mixed with other metals like silver, platinum, copper, palladium, zinc, nickel, iron and cadmium to make the rings more durable, as pure gold on its own is far too soft for jewellery.

The purity of gold when alloyed with other metals is measured in karats. Pure gold contains 24 karats, while18-karat gold jewelleryis 75% pure gold, 14-karat gold is 58.3% pure gold, and 9-karat gold is 37.5% pure gold. For jewellery to be sold as “gold” in Australia, it must have at least 9 carats of pure gold.

There’s no question that gold on Earth is a finite resource. The1.6 quadrillion tonnesof it hidden in the Earth’s core we’ll never even get to see due to searing hot temperatures rendering it impossible to extract… making what we can mine ever more precious.

One estimate predicts all accessible yellow gold will be mined by2050. And because gold cannot be manufactured in a lab from other raw materials, owning your very ownyellow gold wedding ringorgold diamond earringswill be more appealing than ever when accessible stocks are depleted.