Pure gold is soft, too soft to hold a shape or survive daily wear, so it is mixed with a little of other metals for strength. The karat number tells you how much of the final piece is actually gold. It is measured out of 24, where 24K is pure gold.
The numbers, simply
- 24K is 100% gold. Rich colour, but too soft for everyday jewellery.
- 18K is 75% gold. The sweet spot: clearly gold in colour and value, still strong enough to wear daily. Stamped 750.
- 14K is about 58% gold. More alloy, a little paler, common in mass-market jewellery. Stamped 585.
- 10K is about 42% gold. Under half gold, the legal minimum to be called gold in many places. Stamped 417.
Which should you choose?
If you are buying gold to keep its value, higher karat means more actual gold in the piece, which means more of what you paid is a real asset. That is why we work in 18K. It carries a genuine 75% gold content and the warm colour people picture when they think of gold, while staying durable enough to wear every day. Below 18K, you are buying more alloy and less gold, which is fine for pure fashion but weaker as a store of value.
Higher karat, more real gold. Simple as that.
A quick note on colour
Yellow, white, and rose gold can all be the same karat. The colour comes from which metals are mixed with the gold, not from how much gold is present. An 18K yellow and an 18K rose piece hold the same 75% gold value.
Every Asil piece is solid 18K, hallmarked, and priced by its gram weight, so you always know exactly how much gold you own.