What is a gold sample?

Such a noble metal as gold quite rarely falls into human hands in its pure form. Usually those products, which we call gold, are in fact alloys of gold and ligature. Ligature is called impurities of base metals. These impurities, which are added to the alloy, are used to improve the operational and other necessary qualities, since this precious metal itself is very soft in its pure form. Gold in its pure form is subject to severe abrasion, and products that can be made from it will be easily scratched and often torn.

Even in ancient times, scientists determined that the best alloy for gold is silver and copper. Therefore, they were added to gold alloys in various quantities. And in order to be able to know the amount of added ligature in the alloys for making jewelry, gold samples were used. That is, in the modern jewelry world, the quality of any jewelry and product from this precious metal depends not on what (red or white) gold is used for its production, but on the content of impurities that impart strength and durability to them.

Most often, such jewelry is made of 585 samples of gold. Among the material for the manufacture of jewelry distinguish red, yellow and white gold. Red gold is made by adding copper to it, this increases its strength and durability. As a ligature for yellow, silver is usually used, and nickel and palladium are added to make the alloy white. Historically, two systems are used to determine the sample of gold - a carat and metric. On the territory of Russia, a metric system is mainly used, based on determining the weight of the precious metal in thousandths of the mass of the product. Therefore, it is easy to understand what kind of gold samples are. For example, in 1000 grams of an alloy of 585 tests contains 585 grams of pure gold and 415 grams of ligature. The same is also determined by the sample of white gold.

The gold sample determination system is mainly used in the UK, Europe and the USA. In this case, the designation is in carats. Carat is defined as one twenty-fourth part of the weight of gold in the alloy. Therefore, pure precious metal has 24 carats, 750 sample corresponds to 18 carats, 375 test is already 9 carats. The most popular in the world uses a gold alloy of 750 tests. Practical any color gold product is made using this sample of gold. Differences in the color of jewelry are achieved by the addition of various precious metals - palladium, iridium, rhodium, chromium and zinc - into the composition of alloys.

Therefore, in the modern jewelry market there is a massive presence of blue gold, green gold, rose gold, black gold, and also white gold. However, the most common are yellow and a combination of yellow and white gold. But in common use there are alloys of four samples: 375, 585, 750 and 958. The gold alloy of 958 tests is most often used for making works of art. There is another 900 test, which in many countries for the coinage of gold coins and in dentistry. If decorations are made of alloys below 375 tests, then they are no longer considered jewelry, they are considered to be jewelry.

In many countries of the world in the production of jewelry, the state exercises control over the gold content in alloys. In some states, there is still additional control over the corporations of jewelers, who have their own extremely complex and diverse brands. However, in some countries, for example, in Egypt, Turkey, the US and South America, there is no government control over the manufacture of gold products.