99.9% gold ring

[MakingTheGrade]

I"m in China, so thought I''d pick up some high karat gold jewelery since it''s very popular here (and in many parts of asia). Thought I would share some photos since I rarely see jewelry made with this high karat in the US, it''s purer than 24k.


Not the world''s most meticulously made ring, but still pretty I think.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

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[MakingTheGrade]

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[MakingTheGrade]

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[MakingTheGrade]

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[Cehrabehra]

awesome - I hope I can find a ring I love in high carat yellow gold while I''m there - I leave for China tomorrow!!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I have no doubt you will! It's literally everywhere. Especially with the Spring Festival coming up, a lot of people are buying traditional high karat jewelery for their loved ones.

It's funny in that they sell these rings by gram weight, lol. All the rings have a weight written on the tag, and when you decide on one, the salesmen just multiplies the weight by that day's price-per-gram (which is reflective of gold prices). Mine was 3.17 grams. They can get pretty heavy quickly though!

 

[virgoruby]

Wow, the ring is v. pretty & sunny yellow!
Do you have to be really careful with the ring though, as it''s made of high karat gold (which I assume is v. soft)?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 12/29/2009 4:40:10 AM
Author: virgoruby
Wow, the ring is v. pretty & sunny yellow!

Do you have to be really careful with the ring though, as it''s made of high karat gold (which I assume is v. soft)?

They are quite soft, but I''m not particularly careful with them because they aren''t heirlooms or irreplaceable gemstones that I wouldn''t want to scratch/chip, lol. My mom has a high karat band she''s been wearing for years now and it still looks lovely.

 

[oddoneout]

The colour is stunning. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Lovinggems]

Date: 12/29/2009 6:46:02 AM
Author: MakingTheGrade

Date: 12/29/2009 4:40:10 AM
Author: virgoruby
Wow, the ring is v. pretty & sunny yellow!

Do you have to be really careful with the ring though, as it's made of high karat gold (which I assume is v. soft)?

They are quite soft, but I'm not particularly careful with them because they aren't heirlooms or irreplaceable gemstones that I wouldn't want to scratch/chip, lol. My mom has a high karat band she's been wearing for years now and it still looks lovely.

MTG your new ring is very cute.

My mum has a pair of 24k gold bands, I don't think she's very careful with them, she keeps them in a coat pocket. Anyway they're now squashed and wonky. Maybe I should offer to fix it for her.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Oh yeah, they are quite easy to squish! But also easy to un-squish

You guys should see some of the designs they were selling, it was kind of funny. There were the usual engraved bands, but there were also dragons, tigers, pigs (ie all the zodiac animals), pineapples, turtles, all sorts of flowers and feather type designs. It was quite the variety!

 

[Sizzle]

So pretty. I totally want some now. Any idea where I can find high carat gold online? Possible Birthday present opportunity here!

 

[virgoruby]

MTG - I''d love to see pics of unique/wacky designs of the rings that you''ve seen in the shop(s)..

I assume there are lots of tiger rings, as 2010 is the year of the tiger (?)

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Oh yeah, LOTS of tiger themed rings, hehe. Some were actually kind of cute and I was tempted to get one since I was born in the year of the tiger too. But alas, I went with something a little more conventional.

Anyways, I think the sales people would have been really annoyed if I started taking photos, lol, assuming the people around me would be able to stop jostling me long enough to get a clear shot! Beijing is a really crowded place!

Sorry sizzle, don't know where you can buy one online.

They are fun to wear though, I feel very regal wearing something that's 100% gold, it has a lot of old world, traditional charm for me.

Anyone know if any of the PS vendors work in high karat golds?

 

[autumngems]

It is sucha pretty buttery yellow. I bought several peices when I lived in Japan and have never worn them.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 12/29/2009 8:17:11 AM
Author: Sizzle
So pretty. I totally want some now. Any idea where I can find high carat gold online? Possible Birthday present opportunity here!

i buy 24K gold jewelry in S.F. chinatown.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 12/29/2009 1:26:07 AM
Author: MakingTheGrade

I'm in China, so thought I'd pick up some high karat gold jewelery since it's very popular here (and in many parts of asia). Thought I would share some photos since I rarely see jewelry made with this high karat in the US, it's purer than 24k.

Not the world's most meticulously made ring, but still pretty I think.

MakingTheGrade, why didn't you post this in the Gold Thread? I don't mean that you shouldn't, also, have started a new thread for your new ring, but you must have known that the Pricescope high karat gold lovers would have wanted to be alerted to the news that you had a new high karat gold ring?

Would you do the honors of posting a photo and some information about your ring in the Gold Thread, too? (And, Sara, if you buy a ring or some other high karat gold jewelry in China would you please update us in that thread?) To think that I might have missed this!!!

AGBF

 

[AGBF]

Date: 12/29/2009 8:17:11 AM
Author: Sizzle

So pretty. I totally want some now. Any idea where I can find high carat gold online? Possible Birthday present opportunity here!

Yes, Sizzle, I have lots of ideas on where you can find it. We discuss a lot of places in a thread that we call, "the gold thread", but which is actually enitled, "Do You Have A Favorite Gold Designer?". I would suggest that you go there with your question. You will get a lot of responses. There are a lot of resources within the thread, too. There are on-line vendors who sell it; and eBay vendors (with varying degrees of reliability), some of them located in Turkey, who deal in it; and Etsy vendors who will make custom pieces for you out of it. There are also high end designers (like Gurhan and Yossi Harari) who popularized it in the United States and charge a small fortune for each piece. If you like high karat gold, you definitely need to read the Gold Thread! I hope to see you there!

AGBF

 

[yssie]

The colour is gorgeous

The comparison pics are really striking.





I love the design you chose

I''m not sure what I''d do with a 99.9% gold pineapple ring, though

 

[Rachel9]

Oh my MTG, lovely ring....you should bring a few pieces and sell them to us j/k
Love, love the buttery rich color!

it would be nice to have "18-21-22-24k GOLD THREAD" just a thought

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 12/29/2009 7:01:39 PM
Author: Rachel9
Oh my MTG, lovely ring....you should bring a few pieces and sell them to us j/k

Love, love the buttery rich color!

it would be nice to have ''18-21-22-24k GOLD THREAD'' just a thought

Haha! I would if only to spread high karat gold in the US! But I don''t have that much liquid cash

I didn''t know there was a "gold thread", I saw the designer thread but my ring doesn''t have a designer per se, lol. But I will go post there too!

 

[Rachel9]

You know, there''s more and more high karat gold being worn, the B&M store I purchased from last time had tons of requests for 6-12 bangle sets! Not cheap.....just rich and different, they are also known for matching gold solder to each piece which is nice! Maaaayyyybbbee I''l share some next time I dig something out from my little cave

 

[chrono]

MTG,
Even by gram weight, don''t you find that gold jewellery in Asia so far less expensive than in the US? When you consider pure gold versus 14KT, it seems gold is expensive here. Perhaps it is due to the labour? Marketing?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 12/29/2009 10:34:05 PM
Author: Chrono
MTG,

Even by gram weight, don't you find that gold jewellery in Asia so far less expensive than in the US? When you consider pure gold versus 14KT, it seems gold is expensive here. Perhaps it is due to the labour? Marketing?

Definitely cheaper than the states, but still not cheap-cheap. My ring was about 180$ based on current conversion rates for 3.17 grams. Compared to the US, that's pretty cheap since we're talking 3 grams of basically pure gold, but it's not so cheap that I can buy one of every kind, lol.

It probably has to do with supply and demand, the average Chinese citizen can only afford so much when it comes to these luxury items, so it probably drives the price of jewelery down. The price of my ring is basically just marginally over the cost of the gold. Maybe 5% of the cost is labor, if that much (the rings are all cast).

What's really much cheaper in China is Platinum because most people don't like to wear it. The traditional metal of choice for wedding and celebrations in general is 24k yellow gold.

 

[FrekeChild]

I thought 24kt was pure gold?

Lovely ring MTG! I recently picked up a 24kt gold ring, and I haven''t shown it off anywhere on PS yet...

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 12/29/2009 11:55:13 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I thought 24kt was pure gold?

Lovely ring MTG! I recently picked up a 24kt gold ring, and I haven''t shown it off anywhere on PS yet...

I thought 24k was as high as you got too..but the way they sell it in China, it''s a little different I guess. Or maybe it''s just a difference between lower purity 24k and higher 24k? I mean, not gold is 100% right?

Well apparently there''s a gold thread to show off gold pieces! Hehe, you could always post it there!

 

[jewelerman]

Date: 12/30/2009 12:07:33 AM
Author: MakingTheGrade

Date: 12/29/2009 11:55:13 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I thought 24kt was pure gold?

Lovely ring MTG! I recently picked up a 24kt gold ring, and I haven''t shown it off anywhere on PS yet...

I thought 24k was as high as you got too..but the way they sell it in China, it''s a little different I guess. Or maybe it''s just a difference between lower purity 24k and higher 24k? I mean, not gold is 100% right?

Well apparently there''s a gold thread to show off gold pieces! Hehe, you could always post it there!

okay...now Im curious...24 karat is the highest purity content for gold.What do the sales people there tell you about the content of 24 karat gold?

It starts out as 24 karat and gets lower as its alloyed with other metals making it 23,22,21,20,19,18,15,14,12,10,9, or 8 karat gold.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 12/30/2009 1:20:29 AM
Author: jewelerman

okay...now Im curious...24 karat is the highest purity content for gold.What do the sales people there tell you about the content of 24 karat gold?

It starts out as 24 karat and gets lower as its alloyed with other metals making it 23,22,21,20,19,18,15,14,12,10,9, or 8 karat gold.

JM
Chinese jewelry has always been 24K. my wife''s plain 24K ring bents out of shape when she wear it.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 12/29/2009 11:27:01 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade

Date: 12/29/2009 10:34:05 PM
Author: Chrono
MTG,

Even by gram weight, don''t you find that gold jewellery in Asia so far less expensive than in the US? When you consider pure gold versus 14KT, it seems gold is expensive here. Perhaps it is due to the labour? Marketing?

Definitely cheaper than the states, but still not cheap-cheap. My ring was about 180$ based on current conversion rates for 3.17 grams. Compared to the US, that''s pretty cheap since we''re talking 3 grams of basically pure gold, but it''s not so cheap that I can buy one of every kind, lol.

It probably has to do with supply and demand, the average Chinese citizen can only afford so much when it comes to these luxury items, so it probably drives the price of jewelery down. The price of my ring is basically just marginally over the cost of the gold. Maybe 5% of the cost is labor, if that much (the rings are all cast).

What''s really much cheaper in China is Platinum because most people don''t like to wear it. The traditional metal of choice for wedding and celebrations in general is 24k yellow gold.

gold cost the same worldwide. what you are saving on is the cheaper labor in HK/China vs U.S.

when i bought my 24K gold necklace in S.F. chinatown think i paid like $4 per inch for labor

+ the gold content of the necklace,but this was like 12 yrs ago. i''m sure the labor had gone up since.