It cannot be doubted that gold is in fact the most adored of precious metals by humans throughout the world. Its docile characteristics and inimitable radiance makes it the perfect wearable ornament while simultaneously being a natural hedge against inflation and market downturns. Coupled with the fact that gold can be liquidated rather easily in any form almost anywhere in the world gives it that special place as a ‘monetary security’ that will not fail regardless of the environment an individual finds themselves in.
For those who like jewellery and especially jewellery that contains gold it is worth mentioning that gold is a symbol of purity and prosperity in most cultures, but besides this fact how well people understand the mechanics behind gold jewellery is an entirely different matter and there are some things that gold jewellery buyers should keep in mind while buying them and here are some of the basics that you should be on top of with regards to buying and selling gold jewellery.
It is important to know the variations in gold that influences its quality and purity which has a direct impact on its price. The predominant factors that must be taken into consideration when it comes to buying gold jewellery is the purity levels or the percentage of gold in a jewellery piece, the weight of the jewellery piece in gram and of course the design (the more intricate the design, the more expensive it tends to be due to workmanship).
When we mention purity levels for gold it simply implies the amount of gold that is contained in a jewellery piece and this is indicated by the markings inside the jewellery piece which is represented in karats. Gold jewellery is never made out of 100 % gold as it will be 2 soft and will not hold the patterns and designs for long and as such jewellers add other metals to transform it into alloys that are harder and last for aeons even if it is worn on a daily basis.
In most case scenarios a mixture of metals that include silver, copper, nickel, platinum and at times even zinc to give it vigour and durability that it needs to last a lifetime. The table below gives a standard break down of karats and the corresponding level of purity set by the world gold council.
| Karats | Fineness | % of gold |
| 24 | 999 | 99.99 % |
| 24 | 990 | 99 % |
| 22 | 916 | 91.6 % |
| 21 | 875 | 87.5 % |
| 19.2 | 800 | 80 % |
| 18 | 750 | 75 % |
| 14 | 585 | 58.5 % |
Source: World Gold Council
If we look at the prices of jewellery, gold jewellery prices are determined by the purity or the amount of gold content plus the cost of workmanship and overheads that the jeweller has to bear to run their business. As for the variations of gold, in most circumstances value is only placed for the total gold content in a piece of jewellery, regardless of how good it looks.
However, it is worth to mention that certain pieces also carry aesthetic value provided the designer of the piece of popular or well known in the industry akin to works of art.
For more information on gold investment, please visit our Selling Gold in Melbourne website.