K is for Karat

24K gold is pure gold.

18K gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 75% gold.

14K gold contains 14 parts gold and 10 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 58.3% gold.

12K gold contains 12 parts gold and 12 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 50% gold.

10K gold contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 41.7% gold.

European gold jewellery is marked with numbers that indicate their percentage of gold, such as:

18K gold is marked 750 to indicate 75% gold

14K gold is marked 585 for 58.5%

10K gold is marked 417 for 41.7%