The Gold Factor - Gold vs. Platinum

When investing in precious metals like gold or platinum, it's a good idea to know what you're buying. For example, you should understand the differences between the various grades of gold, and what makes platinum so much more expensive than its less expensive (but still luxurious) counterparts.

Gold Karats

Karats represent the weight of gold jewelry. The higher the karat, the more pure gold is present, and the more expensive the gold is.

• 24k gold offers the weight and feel of pure gold, but can be too soft to use in its original state. Therefore, jewelers mix in other metals to strengthen it.
• 18k gold is 75% pure gold, and considerably more expensive than lesser karat gold jewelry.
• 14k gold contains about 58.3% pure gold and is the most popular karat choice for gold jewelry in the United States.
• 10k gold has approximately 41.67% pure gold and is an affordable solution for those who love gold jewelry or would like to give it as a gift, without a more considerable investment.

Types of Gold

Several types of gold are popular among jewelry wearers. Pure yellow gold (which, alone, is too soft to make jewelry) is mixed with other metals to create stronger gold, and sometimes giving it different colors. These colors can include a range of shades of yellow, pink and white.

White gold, which contains a mixture of gold and 25% nickel and zinc was originally designed to imitate platinum as an affordable alternative to the more expensive metal.

Platinum

A white precious metal, platinum jewelry contains about 95% pure metal, hence why it's so much more expensive than gold jewelry.

In general terms, investing in a platinum ring will cost about two times more than an 18k white gold ring. However, this precious metal is extremely long lasting and durable, making it well worth the investment for engagement rings and wedding bands which are intended to last a lifetime.

When buying gold or platinum jewelry, it's important to remember why these precious metals command the prices they do. Karat weight, design and special finishes to the jewelry all contribute to the cost of a piece of jewelry crafted from gold or platinum.