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.

For instance, in Ukraine and Poland, the bride to be doesn’t wear her engagement ring in her left hand, but on her right-hand ring finger instead. s Poland and Ukraine, it is customary for the ring to be worn on the right-hand ring finger. In classical times, it wasn’t the ring finger that hosted the engagement ring at all. Rather, engagement rings were worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, as it was believed that finger contained the "vein of love" or vena amoris, as it was known.

In all societies, however, customs change over time. In contemporary U.S. and Canadian societies, in is becoming increasingly more commonplace for a woman to present her partner an engagement or promise ring  at the time of the engagement.

This exchange, though, is not all that uncommon. In several European nations, and other nations, such as Egypt and Brazil, the man and the woman will both wear engagement rings. These engagement rings are most of gold bands in white, yellow, or rose gold. They look very similar to wedding bands without diamonds of Western tradition. In fact, in these countries, engagement rings will also serve as the wedding band in time.

And, in Spain, it is common for a woman to buy a man a wristwatch at the time of engagement.

While we don’t carry wristwatches, you can find a great assortment of engagement rings, promise rings, and wedding bands at SuperJeweler.com.

At SuperJeweler.com, we take promise rings seriously. Sure, we remember what it was like to be young and in love. Promise rings often serve as a way for young people to symbolize that their relationship is important. As shown in the case of The Jonas Brothers, however, promise rings don’t just have to be a promise to another person. They call their promise rings, "purity rings" as a commitment to God that they will abstain from sex until they are married.

As any parent of a teen will tell you, one of the biggest challenges is in making sure your child makes the right decisions when you can’t be there to help. Perhaps this is no more important than when it comes to relationships. Who are your kids’ friends? Who are they dating? Whose house are they hanging out at? These things are important to responsible parents.

Promise rings and purity rings are a significant part of this equation. It shows commitment to something important. It shows a level of maturation. And that commitment could be to a boyfriend or girlfriend that says, "I really like you and I want us to promise to be there for each other." Or, as with The Jonas Brothers, it could be a promise that says, "I understand how important a physical relationship is, and I want to be sure that it is shared with someone I have vowed to spend my life with."

Either way, in today’s society, so filled with choices and temptation, making a commitment to something or someone is a major step. So we say, "Good for you, Jonas Brothers and Jordin Sparks!"

And if you are reading this and would like to browse for promise rings of your own, we sure would appreciate it if you looked at our selection of beautiful promise rings for ladies, as well as our men’s promise rings at SuperJeweler.com.