Have you ever had a question about what numbers mean when stamped onto jewelry?

Let’s cover some basics before getting into more obscure numbers and markings.

14K is commonly marked as 585 even though it technically 583.

18K is marked 750.

How did they come up with these numbers? Let’s use 18K as an example.
24K is pure gold. 18 parts pure gold divided by 25 is 750.
The gold is therefore 75% pure gold or 750 parts gold with 250 parts other metals out of 1000 parts.

Silver is commonly marked 925.
Platinum is commonly marked PLAT.

Common Acronyms:

GF = Gold Filled (heavy plating), usually has a fraction,
For Example:1/20 10K GF
GS = Gold Shell
HGE = Heavy Gold Electroplate
K = Karat
KP = Karat Plumb (exact amount of gold)
K.P. = Karat Plate

OK let’s take a look at some marks that you may or may not have heard of sorted by category.

Gold:
375 = 9K (England and Canada)
417 = 10K
500 = 12K
583 (585) = 14K
625 = 15K
667 = 16K
750 = 18K
833 = 20K (Asia)
917 = 22K (Asia)
999 (1000) = 24K pure gold

Silver:
999 Fine = Pure Silver
925 (.925) = Sterling
925 NV = Nevada Silver, possibly made in England
835 (.835) = lower quality of British Sterling Silver
MEXICO
STER
Sterling
Taxco

Platinum:
Pt (atomic symbol)
Irid. Plat.
Pt 900
Pt 950
PLAT

Stainless Steel:
316L = High-grade Stainless Steel

Labels: 14K gold Marking, 18K gold Marking, Jewelry Markings, Platinum Marking, Silver Marking

This entry was posted by nitacreations, on Sunday, October 21, 2007. You can leave your response.