I heard somewhere that the standard for gold jewelry in China is considered to be 24 karat. If so, how does that affect the durability? Do chains, settings, and clasps ever break?
And how about other countries in the region…SE asia, Japan, India, etc.?
I have never heard this. When I was making jewelry it was considered a given that you couldn’t make jewelry out of 24K. I’ve seen Malaysian pieces in 20K, though.
I used to see 22kt stuff when I worked for a pawn shop.
Um, YES. I don’t know about China, but I have two pieces of 24 K gold from India. I never, never wear it, because it’s so soft.
Now the truth is, even 24K gold is not pure gold - how could it be? But it is much more pure than here, and much more yellow. For example, the pendant doesn’t quite fit on the 22K gold chain I have to go with it. So I heat it in the flame so it will be softer, and then I can push it through.
For years I thought 10, 14, and 18K gold was rather cheap. I still like 22 and 24 better, but you have to go to an Indian store - which gets shipments from Britain.
Indian gold is also stamped differently. As far as I know, Indian gold is not sold in the U.S. - only British gold because the stamping complies with the legal stuff in the U.S.
24k is pure gold. It is generally considered to be too soft for use in jewelry, particularly for pieces you’d be expected to wear daily, like wedding bands. It’s so soft, it would just wear away sooner or later.
That’s right; I’d forgotten about that. I had a friend in highschool from Saudi Arabia; his stuff was 22K.
Yep! It’s true. Well, they use 18K for things with sets but simple gold jewelry is pure gold. As far as wear goes, it seems to do OK. In the Middle East, you get anywhere from 18-22 Karat, anything less is just not available.
I love the heft of it and the butter-yellow color. The gold I see in the US and Europe looks brassy as hell.
Oddly enough, gold is also (relatively) cheap when compared to jewelry shops in the US. I don’t really know about Europe. I think that the price difference is due to the habit of many Asian women of using gold jewelry as a sort of portable and pretty savings account. Most of the Asian women I know tend to buy and sell their jewelry frequently.
Regards
Testy
Ok, so it is pure gold. However, like I said, i do have two pieces that are 24K gold. They are from my grandmtoher’s time, though, and I don’t wear them often, as I said.
The posts about the Middle East here are spot-on. By the way, the labor itself is super cheap (usually Indian goldsmiths) and they do some very interesting work.
If you ever get the chance to visit the Gulf, any major city, ask around to find out where the gold souk is. You’ll see the most opulent displays of yellowy gold, much of it 22K, you’ll ever see in your life. And very little security… usually the whole country is one big security zone and street crime is basically unheard of.
Gulf Arab women get loads of gold in marriage as a sort of divorce insurance, often big interesting chest of veil pieces weaving gold coins together. You’ll see these hanging in windows… remarkable. I got my mother a big pendant in Qatar I could never afford here.
Islam (or at least local popular traditional interpretation thereof) frowns on men wearing gold, so men’s stuff is in silver. I’m not a jewelry guy but I pretty much had to get a couple of cool silver rings.
Shop around, haggle, and remember that the Indian smiths do engraving in a number of languages and scripts - very cool!
chest OR veil, sorry…
Yes, a significant amount of jewelry in Chinese societies (HK, China, Taiwan, singapore, etc) is 24k. However, this stuff is not for daily wear. Generally wear it for special occaisians and most brides are decked out in a lot of gold.
Some people do wear rings that are 24k on a daily basis, but the metal is soft and the rings don’t last a long time.
Also one has to be very careful on how the hasps are opened to make them last longer.
I thought 24K was too soft for jewelry, but I’ve often noticed thick, beautiful chain necklaces worn by Chinese people, and the gold does look absolutely the same color as the pure nuggets I’ve seen at my local natural history museum.
I wonder if the addition of minute amounts of the right kind of metal, like those from the platinum group, could make near-24K stronger?
I’m told that the jewelry I got as wedding gifts from my Chinese in-laws is 24 karat. It’s very soft, and the clasps are easily bent. I haven’t broken anything, but then again, I only wear it once every couple of years. It’s really not the everyday type of jewelry- I only wear it to wedings and such.
Here in Homolulu Chinatown, you can buy Chinese 24k jewelry that is priced based on the spot prices of gold for the day! I bought my 0.25 oz wedding band ten years ago and it still looks like new, though it does have a more scratched surface and it has been bent a few times (and straightened on a ring mandrel, none the worse for wear).
I also have a few 24k gold chains, but I don’t wear them often, and some hand made 24k gold ‘sleeper’ earrings (hoops) that I jus bend to shape to fit my ears.
FWIW.
I wouldn’t worry about the clasp too much. My wife has several necklaces she swaps off and on. They are all 24K and have a simple looped gold wire as a clasp. Given the ductility of gold, I don’t think it will break in this lifetime.
Regards
Testy
I dunno anything about Chinese gold, but I just wanted to say I do have some 22 carat and 24 carat gold. The 22 carat is in the form of a necklace and earrings; the 24 carat is a pair of earrings. Neither come from China - I bought all of them in Santa Fe, from jewelry stores that carry lines from specific artists.
I love the look of 22 and 24 carat gold, and would love a 22 carat ring, but everyone tells me it’s a bad idea. 
What kind of ring? My wedding ring was from Thailand and was 24K. It did eventually break but only after 15 years of wearing it 24 X 7. I did bend it a lot when lifting weights but it always bent back into shape just fine. If you are talking about something with a setting then that would be a different matter.
I also like the color and heft of pure or nearly pure, gold
Regards
Testy
I’d be looking for a ring I would plan on wearing 24/7, probably with a stone in it and a fairly intricate setting. After much discussion I’m forced to admit it’d probably not last long, especially since I’m not they type of person who would remember she was wearing a delicate ring and would manage to smash it on doors and walls and hammers and such.
With a stone I don’t think it would work. My wedding ring was just a simple band and that was OK. Even in Thailand and the ME they use 18K for that kind of thing. I have seen some 22K gold rings with butterflys and flowers made from gold lace. I bought my mother one years ago and it lasted about a month before she accidentally bashed it. The problem in the US is that very few jewelers will work on it as they don’t have solder of that purity.
Regards
Testy
Another alternatifve is plating with 24k. If you want a stone set, you can create your masterpiece in 10k, 14k, or 18k, and then plate it with 24k. Even AFTER the stone is set (in almost all instances). It will wear off in a few years, but re-plating is not that big of a deal.
SnakeS