Gold Facts/ Information
Pure gold (yellow) fine gold or solid gold is referred to as 24kt (karat) by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Even gold panned from rivers or gold nuggets from Alaska are 22-23kt, further refining to remove trace silver and copper makes it 24kt pure gold.

Most jewelry is 14kt yellow gold because it is hard enough to work with in jewelry making and wearing. A piece of 24kt gold is gorgeous but too "soft" for jewelry; only the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Peru used this form of gold in "gold sheet", "gold flake", and "gold foil" to cover the metal and wood objects so that a piece of art may appear to be solid gold. The lower the kt value the less fine gold in the piece of jewelry. It is kind of like a cake mix; you take 24kt and add alloys like silver, brass, zinc, and copper to reduce the karat weight to the level needed. And certain "alloys" can color the final mix; like red gold (rose) or even blue gold (cobalt alloys). White gold is an alloy of natural yellow gold in which appropriate amounts of silver, palladium, and nickel; for example 18kt white gold is 75% yellow gold 24kt and 25% nickel/silver/palladium. All new white gold jewelry is coated with another white metal called rhodium; which is more expensive than platinum. A rhodium plated white gold ring will wear out eventually and the piece of jewelry will need to be re-rhodium plated sometimes every year. The only way to have a really white piece of jewelry is to have it made in platinum, which will be white forever. Here is the breakdown on gold content in certain kt items.

Kt	% Fine Gold
24	100
22	91.6
18	75
14	58
10	41.6

A "Plumb" gold stamp; common in England like 14kp, just means no soldering on the ring will be less than 14kt, and the total weight 14/24 must be 14kt. Now there are a host of other "gold" terminology that needs to be explained. Gold filled, gold overlay is an article of at least 10k and up to 24kt mechanically applied to a base metal like lead, brass, or silver. This layer must be at least 1/20 of the total metal weight; so if it says 1/20 14kt G.F. means 1/20 total weight of this item is 14kt gold. So a 20 gram pendant must have 1 gram of 14kt gold. When the term electroplating is used this means electronically and chemically applied layer of gold to a base metal object in every thin fashion. Thickness of gold from (10kt to 24kt) is measured in millionths of an inch. A typical mark would be 14kt G.E. or G.P. and if you have 100 millionths heavy gold electroplate (H.G.E.) sush as 10k H.G.E. Now Vermeil seen on many T.V. channels is usually gold electroplating on silver, beware many of these mixtures cannot be ring sized easily or cheaply. The terminology liquid gold, gold wash, or flash is a solution of chemicals, sometimes up to 12% real gold, is painted on then baked at 1000 degrees; kind of like fired in a kiln, enameling. Finally, rolled gold or rolled gold plate has a lower quality gold less than 1/20 total weight. So as a consumer you need to make sure you understand exactly what kind of metal you are thinking about purchasing. Beware especially of "Silver" looking jewelry that may actually be brass with a "White Silver" paint that quickly discolors and wears off to reveal an ugly metal that cannot be fixed.

Gold Ring Symbolism
The gold ring has always been a token of affection that has many meanings, a love token of value. The circle of the rings represent union and unity because there are no ends that diverge togetherness forever. The circle can also represent eternity because it has no stopping point. Western religions; love, eternity, and union characterize marriage and all comes together symbolically in a gold ring. The bride and groom wear these rings on the third finger of the left hand because in older times it was thought that a vein in the left hand ran from this finger directly to the heart. A ring today still has this ancient symbolism as well as numerous "individual" unique variations from "pure" platinum to combination birthstones, diamonds, and matching bands for couples in the 21st century. Whatever it is the gold ring will always be a symbol of marriage or union.