# Is There A Big Visual Difference Between 18kt and 14 kt Gold? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-big-visual-difference-between-18kt-and-14-kt-gold/658681 "2013-05-18T14:38:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-big-visual-difference-between-18kt-and-14-kt-gold/658681/1 "2013-05-18T14:38:36Z")
I know that 18kt has a higher percentage of gold in the alloy (18kt is 75% gold, 14kt is 50%)…but does the appearence change all that much? From my perspective, 14kt and 10kt look very much alike. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-big-visual-difference-between-18kt-and-14-kt-gold/658681/2 "2013-05-18T14:40:23Z")
18 looks much more…yellow? It is definitely prettier. I was given a ring with a ruby from India by a former boss. It is the prettiest gold I ever owned. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-big-visual-difference-between-18kt-and-14-kt-gold/658681/3 "2013-05-18T15:13:49Z")
The higher in kt, the yellower it is. I have a few pieces of 24kt stuff and it’s very, very yellowy-gold color. Gorgeous. 18kt is nice, but you get a big jump in prettiness if you go a little higher. My wedding ring is 19.2kt. I would have preferred 24kt, but it’s just too soft for a ring that I want to wear all the time. 19.2kt looks very, very close to 24kt, much more so than 18kt in my experience. Weird how just a little more makes such a difference. ---
**Author:** ![yams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/848f3c/32.png) [@yams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yams)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-big-visual-difference-between-18kt-and-14-kt-gold/658681/4 "2013-05-18T19:16:53Z")
[10k, 14k, 18k, 24k.](http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Education2/media/gold-karats-%E2%80%93-10k-14k-18k-24k/) love yams!!