Our Guides

Why am I allergic to some gold jewellery? Every year we get a few customers who believe that they cannot wear gold jewellery because they get an allergic reaction to it. Some believe that they are allergic to gold. We have never yet known anybody who was allergic to pure gold. The most common cause [...]

Two Different Meanings The word carat (or karat in the USA) has two distinctly different meanings, both used in the jewellery industry. Carat Weight When the word “carat” is applied to gemstones, including diamonds, it means a unit of weight. A carat is equal to one fifth (0.20) of a metric gram. It is actually [...]

Density of Gold, Silver, Copper, Platinum & Other Jewellery Metals Every week several people ask us questions about the weight or density of gold. A typical question is “What does a cubic meter / foot / inch / centimetre of gold weigh?”. Because we do not have the time to give each enquiry an individual [...]

A Carat Is 1/24th By Weight Don’t confuse the word “carat” as used for diamonds or other gemstones, when it is a unit of weight. A carat as applied to gold alloys means a proportion by weight of one part in twenty-four, or 41.66 parts per 1000. The higher the carat value, the higher the [...]

Percentage by Weight v. Percentage by Volume The Difference is Surprising Gold alloys are always calculated by weight. For example 18 carat gold must contain at least 18 parts gold out of 24 parts total (75%). The proportions by volume can show a startling difference. The graphic on the right shows the proportions by volume [...]

Is it correct that 9 carat gold is harder wearing than 18 carat gold? The simple answer is no! Surprised? Most people are surprised to hear this, because for some reason, they have always believed, or been told, that 9 carat gold is harder, or harder wearing than 18 carat gold. We sometimes have trouble [...]

Not Only Scrap Gold In addition to buying scrap gold, we also buy quality old jewellery, diamonds rings, watches, certificated diamonds, coins, medals, medallions, silver, platinum, and more. Know Your Buyer If you have gold coins, jewellery, diamond rings, scrap gold, or bullion to sell, it is well worth giving some thought to what sort [...]

Weights Used in Precious Metals & Jewellery We are very frequently asked to explain the difference between a troy ounce and an “ordinary” avoirdupois ounce, how many grams to the ounce, ounces per kilo, etc. To try to answer all these questions and more in a single page, we present our:- Guide to Weights Carat [...]

There is no such thing as green gold! There are however gold alloys which appear green. When jewellers speak of green gold, they mean green gold alloys. Gold Alloys Gold itself is a yellow metallic element but, in its pure form, it is too soft to be used for general jewellery purposes, although there are [...]

All gold is yellow There is no such thing as red, pink or rose gold! There are however gold alloys which appear rose, red, or pink. When jewellers speak of coloured gold, they mean coloured gold alloys. Gold Alloys Gold itself is a yellow metallic element but, in its pure form, it is too soft [...]

There is no such thing as white gold! There are however gold alloys which appear white, silvery, or grey. When jewellers speak of white gold, they mean white gold alloys. In most other major languages these alloys are described as grey rather than white. We will stick to “white”. Gold Alloys Gold itself is a [...]

There is no such thing as white gold! Gold is yellow. In fact all metals are silvery gray in colour, with just two exceptions, copper and gold. There are however gold alloys which appear white, silvery, or grey. When jewellers speak of white gold, they mean white gold alloys. In most other major languages these [...]