Pure gold is a very soft metal. It is traditionally hardened and made easier to work by adding different metals. Pure gold is 24K and the higher the Karat count is, the purer the gold used and the softer it becomes, too. Gold jewellery has been known to last a long time. It is very resistant to corrosion and tarnish, the only flaw that Gold has is the softness which means it has to be stored properly to avoid any scratches and dents to the material.

Purchasing gold should be done properly and with correct, trusted retailers. There are a lot of scammers out there that try to sell gold for much more than it is actually worth with a dishonest Karat count.

It is advised to keep gold away from harder substances such as diamonds and other gemstones because these materials can very easily scratch the soft surface of gold. If possible, gold jewellery should be stored separately and individually so that it does not come into contact with any other much harder items that may damage it in one way or another.

A very common chemical that can greatly harm gold jewellery is that of chlorine . It is not advised to wear gold jewellery when you are using cleaning materials with chlorine or with highly chlorinated water such as found in swimming pools and Jacuzzis. Chlorine has been known to weaken gold and make it much more prone to breakage and cracks.

Lotions, perfumes and also oils can also cause gold to lose some of its luster that is why it is advised to wear as little perfume and lotion on body areas that you know you will be wearing your Gold jewellery on. If that can't be avoided, it is best to put on perfume and lotion before you put on your gold jewellery. Grease and oil marks can often be a plague of gold jewellery the most but can very easily be managed by cleaning the gold jewellery with a little bit of rubbing alcohol to return its luster.

When you are buying gold jewellery it is normally advised to pay some extra special attention to the Karat value of the gold jewellery you are interested in. Remember that pure gold is 24K going down with the amount of added metals to the lowest being 10K. There are also lower karat counts for gold but these are not considered to be 'gold' in most countries. Karat should not be confused with Carat. Carat is a unit of weight that is used with gemstones and is typically attributed to diamonds.

Gold rarely causes problems with allergies simply because it is non-reactive to most chemicals. People that say they are allergic to gold jewellery are most probably allergic to the metal compounds that have been added to it to make it harder and create the colour. Adding other metals with the aim of changing the colour of gold is a normal practice.

Different forms of gold jewellery are gold filled and gold plated jewellery. Gold Filled Jewellery will usually have an indicator stating as to how much of the jewellery weight can actually be attributed to gold. Gold plated jewellery on the other hand has only a very thin layer of gold (in the microns) on the surface and can easily lose its gold colour over time.