Understanding 825 Gold: Is It 22K Gold?

Question
i have a bracelet marked china  825
is this 22k gold? Ron  

Answer
James, thanks for this question.

The number mark on the bracelet might be for the gold content or it might be simply an identification mark of a bracelet style used by the manufaturer.  

To clear things up, let me explain gold marks and what the numbers mean.  Pure gold is called 24k, why or how this was the number used is beyond me! Anyway, 24k means pure gold.  Gold items are routinely marked with karat marks like 14k or the item may be marked by a number meaning the same thing.

For example, 18k is the same as a quality mark of 750. Where does the number come from?  This is 18 divided by 24, or simply 18/24.  The answer to this division is 750. The number 750 actually means 0.750 gold with the other 0.250 being other metals used in the gold recipe.  Another example would be 14k gold and the actual division of the numbers 14/24 give you 0.583.  So, 583 is the mark for 14k gold which is exactly 14k.

The 14k is an international exception. The Italians make a lot of 14k chains and bracelets and they mark the items with this number: 585.  As you can tell, this is slightly higher than exact 14k gold.  Why? Perhaps to insure the gold was truly 14k and no less by any amount. Who really knows.  Anyway, the most common number mark you will see for 14k nowadays is 585, accepted by most countries today.

Your item is marked 825. Doing the math backwards, we come up with 19.8kt, or higher than 19k but slightly less than 20k.   That is found by doing this: 0.825 x 24 = 19.8.

So, either your bracelet is 19k or that mark has nothing to do with the karat of the gold!

To find out for certain, the best way is to go to a reputable jeweler and have the gold tested.  This test should not be very costly to do but they will charge for it. Call around first to see if the store has a jeweler on the premisis who can test the gold for you.

James, I do hope this helps explain things a little. If you have more to ask, do not hesitate to get back to me.

God Bless and Peace. Thomas. Sept. 06, 2006  10:04pm