{"id":31519,"date":"2025-08-14T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.11onze.cat\/?p=31519"},"modified":"2025-08-06T16:10:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T14:10:20","slug":"how-purity-gold-measured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.11onze.cat\/en\/magazine\/how-purity-gold-measured\/","title":{"rendered":"How is the purity of gold measured?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When we talk about gold, we talk about value. But not all gold is the same: what really determines its price and use is its degree of purity. And this is where two ways of measuring it come into play: carats (K) and thousandths (\u2030).<\/b><\/h3>\n

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Although in jewellery shops we hear about 18 or 24-carat gold, in the world of investment and international trade, <\/span>the most common system is that of thousandths<\/b>, a much more precise measure.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does gold purity mean?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Gold purity indicates the proportion of pure gold present in a piece of jewellery in relation to its total weight. Pure gold \u2014 that is, unmixed with other metals \u2014 is chemically known as <\/span>Au <\/b>and belongs to the family of <\/span>noble metals<\/b>. This means that it does <\/span>not oxidise or degrade over time<\/b>, does not react easily with other elements, and has exceptional resistance to acids.<\/span><\/p>\n

These properties make gold a particularly <\/span>valuable, rare and durable metal<\/b>, but also too soft for <\/span>some practical uses, such as the manufacture of jewellery or coins<\/b>. For this reason, it is often combined with other metals such as copper, silver, or palladium to increase its strength or alter its colour.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carats: the traditional measure in jewellery<\/b><\/h3>\n

The carat system divides purity into 24 parts. Thus:<\/span><\/p>\n