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Learn About Precious Metals Precious Metals • Gold • Silver • Platinum The Jewelry Learning Center Diamonds Gemstones Pearls Jewelry Types Watches Special Occasions Quality Assurance Care and Cleaning Jewelry Glossary		Precious Metals Gold Gold is the oldest precious metal known to humankind. Because of the metal's luster and remarkable properties, gold has been crafted into the world's most coveted and exquisite jewelry. Gold is the world's most malleable (able to be pounded thin ) and ductile (able to be drawn to a fine wire) of all metals. In its pure state, gold is too soft to be worn as jewelry, so it is usually mixed with other metals, such as silver, copper, nickel and zinc, to make it harder. A mixture of metals is called an alloy. The quantity of gold in an alloy is expressed in karats (abbreviated as k or kt). The following chart shows the proportion of pure gold in the most common karat counts: Gold Purity by Karat Count Here are the most common colors of gold alloys and the metals used in making them: Colors of Gold Alloys Black Hills Gold Black Hills Gold is an unusual style of gold jewelry manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is produced from 10 karat yellow gold with 12 karat rose gold and green gold accents. Most Black Hills Gold jewelry is styled with a grape and grape-leaf motif. Wal-Mart gold jewelry is stamped with its karat content (usually 10 karat, 14 karat or 18 karat), so you can be certain of the quality and value. Top of Page Learn about the different types of jewelry chains. More on Precious Metals Continue shopping in our Jewelry Department. Back to Shopping Has this helped? See our selection of gold jewelry. Rings Earrings Bracelets Chains Pendants Back to the Walmart.com Jewelry Department Buying Tip If you are looking for good quality at a good price, choose 10kt gold.