Most of the gold sold in Thailand is near 24 karat. I’ve read that it’s really 23.8 karat, if that makes any sense, or damned near but not quite pure. They do sell some less “yellow” gold but it’s not nearly as popular. That’s because it’s not as much a commodity as the near pure stuff which is sold at the market price of gold with a very small markup, usually, for workmanship. So you can almost consider the jewelry a “Thai insurance policy”. My wife owns several pieces like this and so both my kids have 1-2 pieces as well. She doesn’t wear the stuff every day. The clasps are little U-shaped bends that you bend to get off and on.
Its the same in India and Pakistan. Anything less than 18 karat is seen as cheap. 18 karat is what you’d give to a kid for everyday jewellery. All of my jewellery that I’ve had from family as presents has either been 22 or 24 karat - you’d be classed as cheap if you gave anything less than that as a gift.
Mind you, I much prefer silver.
Rather than from the platinum group, there are some claims that a “990 gold” alloy of 99% gold, 1% titanium is harder than pure gold, and can be work hardened to obtain something comparable to the lesser gold alloys in hardness:
http://www.gold.org/discover/sci_indu/GBull/1999_2/CORTI.PDF (Note - pdf document)
That’s a document with some details. You can find a lot of brief blurbs like this, too:
I just purchased a lovely ring made in Thailand 24k.And I will say its nothing I have ever seen.The craftmenship is so remarkable for jewerly that it would put Shane Co,JVC to shame.I like to say I spent alot,but it was better then Kmart at 70% off.I bought this as my wedding ring.I was so sick of the same old same old.I am not much into diamonds,or fancies.But for different fire agates and lapils they can rock when put in creative art work!:)
I doubt if any jewelry is actually 24kt, but yes, a lot of Asian gold jewelry is 18-22kt, not 14kt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_karat
22/22K - a quality mark indicating the purity of gold most popularly used in India. This purity was adapted and practiced by the big jewellers and was later passed to jewel smiths. The first 22 signifies the “Skin purity”, the purity of the top layer of the gold jewelry, and the second 22 signifies that after melting purity of the gold jewellery will be 22-carat, or 91.67% of pure gold. …
This symbol or stamp is very popular on the gold jewellery business in Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Yemen, and Persian Gulf countries.
Even on eBay the only “24 karat gold” jewelry is plated.
Mind you, 22kt gold looks just like 24kt gold.
Who knew zombies were into bling ?
Yeah, I got to the fifth post and saw it was by Q.E.D., and thought, “He hasn’t posted here in a while,” and then I remembered. Now I’m bummed. I miss Q.E.D.
I’m pretty familiar with gold jewelry and what karat it is. We buy quite a bit of 24K(.999 fine) gold chains which I believe come from Thailand and Hong Kong. Perhaps other places.
Most from India is stamped 22ct. Also quite a bit from the mid-East is 21K. Some is 18K but flashed with 21-22. But, it’s almost always marked, sometimes in Arabic.
Apparently, they are also annoyed by certain commercials.
My original wedding ring is from China and it is 24k.
I did see a lot of 24k jewelry there, too.
I got another one for daily use, as it is too soft.
I don’t know diddley squat about gold, but my late mother-in-law did, and so do many others in the wife’s family. They, and others in Thailand, swear not all gold is the same here. They say many places mix in inferior grades. My mother-in-law selected our rings for us from one her usual shops in Bangkok’s Chinatown. Mine’s quite large, and it has lasted certainly for more than 15 years of wearing it 24/7. Dunno what carat it’s supposed to be. I guess it just depends on who made your ring and how ethical they were.
Hey! Zombie thread!
For the record, I did end up getting a ring, but it’s only 19.2 carat. It’s plenty purdy.
I’ve also managed to acquire a 24 carat bracelet since this thread was started 6 years ago. Go me!
Googling suggests it’s closer to 23.2 karat, but in any event it’s too pure for the nicer delicate designs to maintain their integrity for long. 
I remember a Thai woman showing me a Valentine’s present from her Thai husband: He’d bought her a Western-style 18-karat item, but she confided to me that her husband didn’t understand Thai culture! 
I also remember a Thai jeweler telling me that while 18-karat gold purchased in Thailand wouldn’t really be 75% gold – they’d be “Thai karats” – that 24 was a special case, and 24k gold really was 24-karat!
My wife has beautiful 24-karat gold bracelet that was given to her by her parents when we got engaged. She wore it only on our wedding day; since then it sits in a safe. It’s much too valuable (and damageable) to wear every day.
She is Chinese.
There is a lot of 24K gold jewelery in Colombia. See link: http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?SearchText=24k+gold+bracelets&IndexArea=product_en&ssk=y&src=Google&albch=Google&albcp=Search_search-others-naixiao1&albkw=24k%20gold%20bracelets_Others-Search-Product-Test_site_no&albag=buydir_none_timepieces-jewelry-eyewear-24k%20gold%20bracelet_product&albmt=Broad&albst=search&albom=Others_None_20100122&tiaozhuan=no
My wedding ring (bought in China) is 24K gold (or at least it says it is). It bends very easily but I do wear it every day. Never had a problem.