This week Peter Moorfield walks up through the actual gold content of each gold karat. We learn which gold karat holds more value, which metal is easier to work with when producing jewelry by hand and which metals to watch out for when making a purchase. Educate yourself about which metals are better to buy and why.

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Every Thursday morning, 8AM EST, we do our best to produce a show that highlights the realities of being in the opal business.

We have spoken about gold in our previous episodes but about gold nuggets in particular. Did you know that the most popular gold in jewelry stores across most of Australia, USA and UK contains the least amount of gold possible? Last time you saw a flyer come out from your local mall jewelry store, did it contain advertisements for 9K or 10K gold? As Peter explains in this episode this gold actually only contains around 45% gold and balance is made up of other alloys such as brass, copper and silver.

When hand making jewelry its important that the metal is soft enough to work with which is why we never hand make opal jewelry using platinum. Our favourite metals to work with is sterling silver, 14K gold and 18K gold but white and yellow golds.

Did you also know that 14K gold is stronger and more durable and hard wearing than 18K gold? This is because the less gold content within jewelry desings and more alloys the stronger the object becomes. Take for example 22 karat gold, this is very soft and easily broken if made using small fragile parts. It would be more preferable in the case that you want a higher gold content but yet strong and durable to go for 18 karat gold jewelry.