SOLID GOLD

The gold rush today is in buying gold, but to do that one has to know more about what gold is. It can have many meanings, depending on how the word is used and what terms are used to modify it.

The advantages of gold are what makes it a precious or noble metal. The disadvantage is that pure or solid gold is soft: the softness that makes it so malleable and ductile means that gold by itself is so soft that it is rarely used in jewelry. Pure gold isn't practical because the jewelry can easily lose its shape and become scratched.

To make gold harder and more durable, not to mention more practical, another metal is added to the gold to make an alloy. The other metal may be one of a variety of metals, or it may be a combination of metals. The proportion of gold used in proportion to the other metal or metals is what determines the fineness of the gold, and this fineness is measured in karat.

Karat measurement is historical, going back to the bazaars of thewear thin. Thus, 24-karat gold is rarely used in jewelry, while 22karat gold may be used but is too malleable for every-day, all-round wear. Eighteen-karat gold is far more wearable, while 14-karat gold is even more practical, especially for jewelry in which a smooth, hard surface is desirable-such as in rings. The harder surface would resist scratching and the shape would remain the same even with constant wear.