Any time you go to a jewelry store, whether an online site like SuperJeweler.com or your local mall store, you’ll see that jewelry comes in different types of gold. While 14k gold is, by far, the most common grade of gold, you can also commonly find 10k, 18k, 22k, and 24k gold.

So, just what are these different types of gold?

The karat count of gold is an indicator of the level of purity of the gold. The most pure gold is 24k gold. If you find an item that is 24k gold, it is 100% gold. The lower the karat of gold, however, the less gold it contains. For instance, 14k gold contains 50% gold. A breakdown of types of gold looks like this:

• 24k gold = 100% gold
• 22k gold = 91.7% gold
• 18k gold = 75% gold
• 14k gold = 50% gold
• 10k gold = 41.6% gold

So, the big question is: If it’s not all gold, what is the rest of it?

Remember when you learned about alloys in your high school chemistry class? That’s exactly what any gold less than 24k gold is: an alloy. (Refresher: An alloy is a compound of 2 or more metals.) In jewelry, alloys are formed with gold and, usually, copper and/or silver. In white gold, nickel is also commonly used.

What does all that mean anyway?

Well, it means a few things. As a rule, the higher the karat grade, the more the piece of jewelry will cost. That doesn’t mean, however, that all 24k gold jewelry will be expensive. In fact, SuperJeweler.com carries this lovely 24k Gold Overlay Natural Heart Shaped Leaf Pendant for just $39.95. At the other end of the scale, 10k gold will mean more affordable jewelry. With the economy what it is these days, more jewelers are increasing their stock of 10k gold jewelry so that customers have more budgetary choices. SuperJeweler.com carries dozens of promise rings in 10k white gold, for example.

As a jewelry seller, we want our customers to be as knowledgeable about what they are getting as possible; that starts with know your types of gold.