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Old 15 August 2010, 06:47 AM   #1
RRGHOST1
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Gold.........YG/WG

I know this seems a stupid question to some, but can somebody tell me what gold is. Everyone knows gold as a yellow precious metal,but what makes white gold. Is white gold the same as yellow but with something added. whoever made it first, why didn't they call it by some other name ? Yes i know, inventing Green in Blackadder does spring to mind here.
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Old 15 August 2010, 07:04 AM   #2
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Well, pure gold (24 carat) is pretty useless as a metal as it's just too soft. That's why it's alloyed - for your standard yellow gold, silver and copper are mixed in to the alloy, making it a bit harder, and easier to use.

Now, for white gold, in jewellery at least, there are two general compositions - the addition of palladium and silver, and nicker, copper and zinc. In rings, for example, this is then rhodium plated to give a pure white colour. Rolex, however, uses a slightly different composition, using platinum as a colour fixing agent, meaning that Rolex WG watches never lose that pure white colour
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Old 15 August 2010, 07:10 AM   #3
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Well, pure gold (24 carat) is pretty useless as a metal as it's just too soft. That's why it's alloyed - for your standard yellow gold, silver and copper are mixed in to the alloy, making it a bit harder, and easier to use.

Now, for white gold, in jewellery at least, there are two general compositions - the addition of palladium and silver, and nicker, copper and zinc. In rings, for example, this is then rhodium plated to give a pure white colour. Rolex, however, uses a slightly different composition, using platinum as a colour fixing agent, meaning that Rolex WG watches never lose that pure white colour
100% correct

10 karat gold 42.5% gold

14 karat gold 58.5% gold

18 karat gold 75% gold

No matter what color, the karat is the same. The alloys may change the color, but there is the same amount of pure gold.
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Old 15 August 2010, 07:56 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by ParisDakarBmw View Post
100% correct

10 karat gold 42.5% gold

14 karat gold 58.5% gold

18 karat gold 75% gold

No matter what color, the karat is the same. The alloys may change the color, but there is the same amount of pure gold.
I hate to be a knob but 10k is only 41.7% pure, hence you will sometimes see the 417 stamp rather than 14k, you will never see a 425 stamp.....
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Old 15 August 2010, 08:52 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by ParisDakarBmw View Post
100% correct

10 karat gold 42.5% gold

14 karat gold 58.5% gold

18 karat gold 75% gold

No matter what color, the karat is the same. The alloys may change the color, but there is the same amount of pure gold.
10k is 41.7% not 42.5%.

-Eddie
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Old 15 August 2010, 02:19 PM   #6
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10k is 41.7% not 42.5%.

-Eddie
Brain fart!

Good catch.

I don't know where 42.5 came from!

My bad
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Old 15 August 2010, 02:52 PM   #7
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All good info. Thanks all!
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Old 15 August 2010, 07:11 AM   #8
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Thanx for the info Chris.
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Old 15 August 2010, 07:23 AM   #9
RRGHOST1
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Oh and Paul. I had a GMT 14k TT i bought in '85. Now i know the difference. Good info.
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Old 15 August 2010, 07:38 AM   #10
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No problem. It's easy to figure the value of the gold as well.

daily gold spot price (www.kitco.com) x what karat gold ie (.425, .585, .750) devided by the grams per oz (31.1).

then multiply the amount of grams times the gold price.

example. say you have 10 grams of 14k gold

gold today $1,215 per pure ounce

$1,215 times .585 (percent of actual gold in 14k) = $710.77 per ounce of 14k

$710.77 devided by 31.1 grams per ounce = $22.85 per gram of 14k gold

$22.85 times 10 grams = $228.54
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Old 15 August 2010, 08:48 AM   #11
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Rolex WG never lose the white?

Really?
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Old 15 August 2010, 10:35 AM   #12
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Rolex WG never lose the white?

Really?
Really. It's all the same color through and through and it will stay that way.
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Old 15 August 2010, 08:58 AM   #13
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And what's platinum?
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Old 15 August 2010, 09:05 AM   #14
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And what's platinum?
Here is some info on platinum.

http://www.gold-eagle.com/analysis/platinum.html
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Old 15 August 2010, 09:06 AM   #15
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Better than what i said.
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Old 15 August 2010, 09:05 AM   #16
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Uh... Platinum is a precious metal- that is I am assuming soft like gold. That is why it alloyed with platiniridium. It is a rare metal found in the earth.
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Old 15 August 2010, 10:36 AM   #17
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woops
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Old 15 August 2010, 02:09 PM   #18
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Platinum should be tougher than 18K gold
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