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Today I'm going to introduce about of Marks of Gold

What is 18KT? K18?

This notation often seen in the engraving of gold jewelry such as K18 and 18K

From the conclusion, 18KT, K18 and 18K have the same meaning.

K and KT are abbreviations for Karat. In general, it is more common to write only K, but rarely you can see the notation KT.

What Are the Marks for 18-Karat Gold?

18 karat gold is one of the most popular alloys for jewelry.

But how can you recognize that a piece is indeed made of gold with this level of purity?

Here we have listed the most common marks for 18K gold that you could find stamped on such jewelry.

The Meaning of 18K Gold Purity

18K gold is an alloy of relatively high purity.

As its karat number suggests, it consists of 18 parts pure gold and 6 parts other metals, for a total of 24 parts.

18k yellow gold ring with blue sapphire 18 karat yellow gold ring with blue sapphire

In terms of percentage, 18-karat gold contains 75% pure gold.

※18KT, K18 have the same meaning!

※The gold jewelry engraving in Japan is K18, K is inserted before the purity!

Karat Marks 18K Gold

The standard karat marks for 18-karat gold are easy to recognize – they contain the number 18 followed by letters such as K, Kt, or KT, all of which indicate karat.

So, if you see a stamp that reads 18K, 18KT, or 18Kt, it means the gold is 18 karats.

A more interesting case is when you see the letters KP (also K.P.) after the karat number, as in 18KP.

Parts-per-Thousand Marks for 18K Gold

Parts per thousand is a unit that is sometimes used instead of karats, especially in jewelry made in Europe.

The difference is that instead of calculating purity per 24 parts of gold alloy, as in karat notation, it is calculated per 1000 parts.

The common parts per thousand mark for 18K jewelry is 750.

You might notice that this number is equal to the percentage equivalent of 18 karats 75% multiplied by 10.

In general, to convert a parts per thousand number to karats, divide by 1000 and multiply by 24.

Marks for 18K Plated Gold

If you see the number 18 stamped on your jewelry, this does not necessarily mean that it is made of a solid gold alloy.

Sometimes, a piece is actually made of another metal and is only covered with a thin layer of gold.

Although it looks like gold, such jewelry is gold plated.

More: Check out this selection of gold-plated jewelry.

The most common mark for gold-plated jewelry is GP or G.P. If you see a stamp such as “18K GP”, this is an indication that the item is only plated with 18karat gold, not made entirely of it.

Other marks that denote gold plating are :

RGP – rolled gold plate

HGE – heavy gold electroplate

HGP – heavy gold plate

GEP – gold electroplated

So, if you see a stamp such as 18K RGP, 18Kt HGE, 18KT GEP, or 18k HGP, then you have jewelry that has 18karat plating.

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