Selling Higher Karats of Gold

The public overwhelmingly believes that high karat gold is soft, and impractical.  Here’s how I explain karatage to inquiring shoppers:

Karat when spelled with a “K” means “per 24”.  10kt gold is 10 parts gold per 24.  Gold is very dense, and therefore wears for a very long time.  The more gold, the longer wearing the piece will be.  Lower karats were invented to give rigidity to light-weight pieces, so that’s why entry level jewellery is often 10kt and more expensive jewellery will be 18kt.  While higher karat gold will scuff easier, it’s also easier to repolish.  Equate 10kt gold to glass and 18kt gold to plastic.  Scratched glass needs to be ground-down to the lowest point of the deepest scratch in order to gain a flat shiny surface, whereas the heat and friction of polishing plastic redistributes (or “smooshes”) molecules around and more easily restores a high polish.  It works similar with gold.

When referring to Customgold white gold alloys, I also point-out that 18kt is advantageous over 14kt in that our 18kt white gold alloy is hypoallergenic due to the use of palladium rather than nickel.

Apart from my old grad ring, I personally have only ever worn 14kt and 18kt gold.  In my spare time, I’ve done a lot of woodworking, renovating and gardening.  I hardly ever take my 18kt ring off.  When it gets to looking a little scuffed a quick polish brings it back to original lustre.

Jewellery is a luxury item.  The higher karat, the more luxurious it is.  Sell-up to 18kt when you can to give your client the best possible jewellery experience!