What is 18K Gold?

What is 750 Gold?

How 18K Gold is it Priced?

Where to Sell 18K Gold?

Important Notes: 

  • 18K is the abbreviation for 18 Carat
  • 750 gold is the same as 18K Gold
  • Karat and Karet are different ways to spell the same word
  • Karat with “K” is used for indicating gold fineness
  • Carat with “C” is used for indicating diamond weight

 

18 Karat Gold (18K Gold – 750 Gold)

18K Gold and 750 Two Different Ways of Grading the Same Gold Alloy.  This article explains this together with how gold is priced.

What is 18K Gold

18 Karat Gold is not Pure Gold.  It is an alloy in which of every 24 karats mass, 18 karats are gold.  The remaining are other materials.  Most jewelry, industrial and medical grade gold items “are not pure gold” gold.  They are alloys with high gold content.  How much of the mass of the material is actually pure gold is called its “Fineness”.  Thus 18K gold is 18K fine.

18 Karat Gold Fineness Calculations

The fineness of 18K gold can be expressed, based on karat (or karetege), percentage, or parts per one thousand (ppt).  Here is the reasoning.  In 18K gold, 18 karats are gold, 7 karats are not gold.  Thus, from this fact we can derive the following:

  • 18K Gold means that 18 parts out of 24 are pure gold and 7 parts out 24 parts are other materials
  • Based on this fact, we can derive the 18 karat fineness expressed as percentage(%) and as parts per one thousand (ppt).  This is how it works
  • 18 karat divided by 24 karat equals  0.750  (18K / 24K = 0.750).  If you multiply this by one hundred (100) you get 75.0.  This means that 18 Karat (18K) gold is 75 percent gold, the rest other materials.  Another way of expressing it is 18 karat gold is 75% fine, or has a fineness of 75%.
  • 18 karat divided by 24 karat equals  0.75  (18K / 24K = 0.75).  If you multiply this by one thousand (1000) you get 750.  This means that 18 Karat (18K) gold is 750 parts per one thousand (1000) gold.  The rest other material.  Another way of expressing it is 18 karat gold is 750 parts per one thousand (ppt) fine, or has a fineness of 750.

 

750 Gold

750 gold is the same as 18 karat (18K) gold.

Grading based in part per one thousand (PPM) is typically used for jewelry destined for the European and Asian markets.  Grading based on karat (K) is typically used for jewelry destined for USA, Britain and Latin America.

 

Pricing 18K Gold

18K Gold is not pure gold.  This means that unless it will be used in its present physical item form, it needs to be refined in order to go back to industry.  That means that it needs to be “scrapped”.  Scrapping means sending to melt and refine.  Because of this, the price of 18K gold is calculated like this.

(International Price of Gold  Times  0.75)   Minus  (Cost of Refining)  Minus  (Capital Cost)  Minus (Dealer Profit)  Equals  Offered Price for 18K Gold.

Other than the fineness, all of this figure are somewhat variable.  This means that the how much is offered will vary somewhat from dealer to dealer.  Call each dealer and see how much they are offering.  A reasonable dealer profit is between 20% and 30% depending on the size of the transaction.  Larger transaction justify lower percentage profit.

 

Summary

  • 18K and 750 are different ways to grade the same type of alloy.
  • 18 Karat (18K) means 10 part out of 24 parts are gold.  The rest is other materials
  • 750 means 750 parts per 1000 are gold.  The rest other materials
  • The price of 18K gold is based on the international price of gold, capital costs and dealer profit

More Info

10K Gold

14K Gold

18K Gold

22K Gold

24K Gold