What is a carat?

A carat is often associated with jewelry made of gold or silver, but it can also be used in relation to precious metals for investment purposes. In short, a carat measures the purity of a precious metal. We will tell you more about what exactly a carat is, what the different measurements mean, when it is used and the differences between carat for precious metals and gemstones.
 

What exactly is a carat?

A carat is a standard measurement for the purity of precious metals. The mathematical approach is to divide the metal into 24. If the metal is 100% pure then it is 24 carat. However, precious metals such as gold are soft, making them easy to deform. Therefore, alloys are often made to ensure that the gold becomes stronger. This reduces the purity.
 

Difference between 14, 18 and 24 carat

The less pure a precious metal is, the lower the carat. The difference between 14, 18 or 24 carat is how much percentage of gold or silver there is in relation to other metals. 14 carat gives a precious metal percentage of 58.5%, 18 carat is 75% pure and 24 carat is 100% pure precious metal.
 

When is carat used?

Carat is used to indicate the purity of precious metals and also gemstones. Therefore, carat is also the most commonly used when it comes to jewelry.
 

Carat for jewelry

Carat is the purity unit most commonly used for precious metal jewelry. Pure precious metals are often unsuitable for making jewelry. Until they can be better processed and last longer, pure precious metals are mixed with other metals. That is why many jewelry items are 14 or 18 carat.
 
Gold is often alloyed with another precious metal, such as silver, palladium or platinum, or an alloy with copper, nickel, zinc or tin. The other metal used affects the colour and strength.
 

Carat gold and silver for investments

For investment gold and silver, carat can be used to indicate purity, but in most cases the fineness scale is preferred. This scale directly shows the percentage of pure gold or silver, making it easier to determine the value of the gold or silver.
 
On gold coins, gold bars, silver coins and silver bars, the purity is stated on the product. Newly minted precious metals have a purity of 999 or 999.9 on the fineness scale. This means that they are 99.99% pure gold or silver and this is also equal to 24 karat. 18 karat is 750 (or 75%) on the fineness scale and 14 karat is 585 (58.5%).
 

Is there a difference between carat for precious metals and carat for diamonds?

In addition to precious metals, carat is also used in relation to diamonds. There is a difference here. Precious metals such as gold and silver can be mixed with metals such as copper and zinc to make them stronger. Diamonds, on the other hand, are always used in their pure form. It is not possible to make an alloy with a diamond, because it is not a metal but crystallized carbon. A carat for diamonds therefore indicates the mass and not the content. Carat for precious metals is indicated with K while for diamonds, and other gemstones, it is indicated with ct.
 
A diamond carat is divided into 100 points, where 0.2 grams equals 100 points. Each point is one hundredth of a carat. The carat of a diamond can be calculated by dividing the weight by 0.2.