14k Gold Jewelry Markings
Know that jewelry marked 14k is 53 8 percent pure gold or 14 parts pure gold out of 24.
14k gold jewelry markings. These are custom stamps or engravings placed in jewelry by whomever manufactured it. A fineness mark expresses gold content as numeric proportion to base metal. Look for other marks that indicate 14k jewelry such as 585 and 14kp determine whether jewelry is 10 karat gold by looking for a 10k mark which indicates jewelry is 41 6 percent pure gold or 10 parts pure gold out of 24. A 750 marking means that a piece is 18 karat gold while 585 signifies 14 karats and 417 10 karats.
American jewelry is often marked by karat stamped into the inside of a ring or bracelet on the edge of earrings or the back of a charm. Often there is one stamp to indicate the purity of the gold 14k as mentioned above. Vine jewelry marks help for dating your what is gold 375 how to read precious metal hallmarks verwoerd ceramics vine jewelry marks help for dating your researching ume jewelry marks fashion silver jewelry marks learn to identify and datejewelry maker s mark antiquevine jewelry marks help for dating yourantique and continue reading jewelry makers marks in alphabetical order. So for each gold variety it lists the fineness and karatage markings.
The mark for instance 14k typically is stamped on a place that doesn t show when the jewelry is worn such as the inside of a gold ring or on the clasp of a gold necklace. The purity mark can be accompanied by a second mark called a maker s mark or a jeweller s stamp. What gold jewelry markings mean. In addition to or in place of the karat mark european jewelry commonly carries a separate number or fineness mark.
Look for a number followed by k for example 12k using a loupe or magnifying glass. A lot of jewelry will have several stamps or marks. Look at the table below. A piece of jewelry with an etching that reads 18k or 750 indicates that it is made up of 75 percent gold while a 14k or 585 mark indicates the metal is constructed with 58 5 percent gold.
Any piece of jewelry will only be stamped with one or the other. It displays all common gold jewelry markings along with their meanings. Also called trademarks they often provide the only evidence that a certain piece of jewelry has indeed been manufactured by a certain jewelry maker. In europe most jewelry is a minimum of 14k.
Maker s marks are the initials or name of the manufacturing firm or other representative symbol stamped into a gold silver or platinum. Gold less than 10k cannot carry a karat mark or be legally called gold in the united states. If the jewelry is marked 10k that s.