Why I Choose 18k Gold

Gold has been used to make jewelry for thousands of years. Long before modern jewelry stores, standardized ring sizes or even the karat system as we know it today, goldsmiths were turning this remarkable metal into objects intended to be worn, treasured and passed on.

Today, gold jewelry is made in a range of different purities. My own work is made predominantly in 18k yellow gold.

There are practical reasons for that choice, but there is also a much simpler one: if I am making a piece of gold jewelry intended to survive generations, I want gold to be a substantial part of what it is.

What Does 18k Gold Actually Mean?

Pure gold is described as 24 karat. The karat system divides the metal into 24 parts, so the number tells us how much of an alloy is actually gold.

24k is essentially pure gold.

22k contains 91.6% gold.

18k contains 75% gold.

14k contains 58.5% gold.

10k contains approximately 41.7% gold.

9k contains 37.5% gold.

The remainder is made up of other metals, which are added to alter properties such as color, hardness and the way the alloy behaves when it is worked.

Different gold standards have developed in different parts of the world. Nine-karat gold has a long history in markets such as Britain and Australia, while 10k and 14k have become familiar in North America. Across many parts of Asia, considerably higher-purity gold has traditionally been valued, with 22k and even near-pure gold used extensively in jewelry.

There isn't one correct purity for every piece of jewelry. But there is an enormous difference between an alloy containing 37.5% gold and one containing 75% gold.

For the jewelry I make, 18k is where I want to be.

Gold Has Been Doing This for Thousands of Years

One of the things that fascinates me about gold is how much ancient jewelry still exists.

Visit a major archaeological collection and you can stand in front of gold jewelry made by craftspeople thousands of years ago. Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Etruscan goldwork survives today not simply as fragments of history, but often as remarkably recognizable pieces of jewelry.

Gold is unusually resistant to corrosion. It doesn't rust, and high-gold-content alloys can survive extraordinarily long periods of time.

Of course, an ancient ring in a museum hasn't spent three thousand years being worn on someone's hand. Jewelry wears, scratches and changes through use. But the survival of ancient goldwork tells us something important about the material.

Gold itself is not the weak link.

If I am making a ring that I hope could still exist generations after both its owner and its maker are gone, that matters to me.

Why 18k Gold?

Eighteen-karat gold contains 75% pure gold, and you can see it.

It has the rich yellow color I associate with gold—the warmth and depth that become progressively less pronounced as the proportion of gold in an alloy is reduced.

It also feels substantial. Gold itself is an exceptionally dense metal, and high-gold-content alloys can give a well-constructed ring a weight in the hand that I think is part of the experience of fine jewelry.

But longevity doesn't come from purity or weight alone.

A ring intended to last has to be designed to last. It needs enough metal in the shank, appropriate proportions, secure settings and consideration of how it will actually be worn. I would rather build those qualities into a ring than make something unnecessarily light and ask the alloy to compensate for it.

That combination—high gold content and substantial construction—is what I want from my work.

18k Gold and Granulation

There is another reason 18k yellow gold appears so consistently in my work.

Granulation.

Granulation is an ancient goldsmithing technique in which tiny individual spheres of gold are arranged on a surface to create patterns, texture and detail. Extraordinary examples of granulated goldwork were produced thousands of years ago, particularly by Etruscan goldsmiths.

It is also one of the defining techniques in my own jewelry.

The granules you see on my rings aren't a texture stamped into the surface or a pattern reproduced by a mold. I form the gold granules individually, arrange them by hand and fuse them to the piece.

And the purity of the gold matters.

The fusion process I use relies on the behavior of 18k yellow gold at very high temperatures. It allows me to create the fine granulated details that have become part of the visual language of Rings by NK. Lower-karat alloys behave differently under the same process, which limits my ability to produce the granulation in the way I want it.

So for many of my rings, 18k isn't simply a specification chosen after the design is finished.

The material and the design are connected.

Jewelry That Changes With You

I don't expect a ring to look untouched forever.

Gold that is worn every day will acquire fine scratches. Polished surfaces will change. Edges may slowly soften. Over years and decades, the surface develops a history of its own.

I like that.

A wedding band worn for forty years should look as though it has been worn for forty years.

The aim isn't to preserve a ring in the condition it left my bench. The aim is to make it well enough that it can live that life—and perhaps begin another one afterward.

That is what I mean when I talk about making an heirloom.

Is 18k Gold the Right Choice for Every Ring?

No.

Different designs and different clients can call for different materials. I work with other gold alloys, palladium white gold and platinum where their particular properties suit the piece.

Material should serve the design.

But when I am working in yellow gold—particularly when I am incorporating the intricate granulation that defines much of my work—I keep coming back to 18k.

It gives me the purity, color, weight and working characteristics I want. It connects the techniques I use at the bench with a goldsmithing tradition that stretches back thousands of years.

And when I make something that I hope will still be worn fifty, a hundred or perhaps several hundred years from now, I think 18k gold is a very good place to start.

About the Author

Nathan King is the designer and goldsmith behind Rings by NK, creating handmade 18k gold engagement rings, wedding bands and collector jewelry in the Philippines. His work combines contemporary design with traditional goldsmithing techniques, including hand-applied granulation, to create modern heirlooms intended to be worn for generations.