Orchid] Legal definition of carats in the USA

Hello Will,

In order to be labelled “14 Karat”, a gold alloy must have a weight
ratio of -at least- fourteen parts Gold to ten parts other metal.
(583.3333333333 parts per thousand.) The casting grain you describe
contains slightly more Gold than is strictly necessary to fit the
legal description of 14K; and it falls well within accepted
parameters.

Hope this helps! :slight_smile:
-Peter-

Hi Will and others discussing true 14k gold.

As Will knows, the problem with some US manufactured gold as well as
silver can be problematic when importing /exporting to many european
countries… The US metals manufacturers try very hard to be as close
as possible ( by calculation and weighing their alloys) to the legal
limit … without going over that limit… sometimes they fail
because they try to be so close.

While I was the manager of a large manufacturing plant, I used to buy
all metals ( gold and silver) from metal suppliers already alloyed In
large quantity until I started exporting to european countries… A
number of these countries assay the jewelry as it comes into their
country and a number of shipments did not pass their assays… in
14k,18k as well as sterling silver.

We took batches of fresh metal and had it assayed… and true
enough… there were batches that were slightly below par.

When I started my own company ( racecar Jewelry Co. Inc.
http://www.racecarjewelry.com) I immediately started alloying my own
golds and silver slightly better than standard so that when we
exported jewelry we made for European designers in Finland, England
and Switzerland , We would not have any problems with hallmarks or
carat content. Happily, in five years, we have never had an
under-carat situation since we instituted this policy with our
metals.

As an example… All our 14k gold that we use in the US as well as
for Europe is .585 our sterling silver is .926

So, if you want good quality castings with finishing capabilities…
Come to us and we will do our best to make your designs look good.
Contact : sales@racecarjewelry.com or Tel: 401-461-7803 Eastern us
time.

Daniel Grandi
http://www.racecarjewelry.com