I have been thinking recently about high karat golds. Low karat gold, such as 10 and 14 karat gold don’t really hold true to the properties of gold. They dirty and hard. 18k, 22k and even pure gold are perfectly useable. Pure gold, 24k gold, though excessively soft can be used in certain chunky designs. 22k can be used in almost any design, save for prong settings and superfine bands, in which 18k gold may be used. I am not saying we should abolish these other gold karats, or colours of gold, such as white, rose or green gold, but we should make these high karats of gold our go to’s as they are true to what gold is. I am open to hearing other opinions, I just thought I would share.
I think there are valid reasons jewelers use lower karat gold and everyone has their preferences. However, I’m with you, I love high karat gold. I actually became a jeweler because I fell in love with hand fabricated 22k gold on a trip to Santa Fe many years ago. I pretty much use 22k exclusively, but I have found some great alloys of 20k and 18k on this site that have a rich color but much harder if you need that, and you can always depletion gild. There is something magical about the element gold, I never tire of it.
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with you.