Gold carats typically refer to a measure of gold purity, with 24k being the highest. Before moving on, it should be explained that carats, in actuality, refers to weights of stones, rather than purity of metals. In terms of gold purity, the correct term is karats. However, many people refer to gold carats when they are actually discussing gold karats. The two terms are often confused and very few may even realize there is a difference in the spellings.

Gold karats are necessary to inform the consumer of the purity of gold because hardly ever is gold in its purest form. Rather, it is mixed with other metals to create what is known as an alloy -- a mix of two or more metals. Most people, therefore, like to understand just how much gold they are getting when they are buying gold jewelry. The higher the gold karats, the more expensive the jewelry is likely to be.