Gold Terms Have Value

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Thinking of surprising her with a diamond?

When wedding website The Knot asked whether the bride and groom should split the cost of the ring, they found that more and more couples are going dutch.

Regardless of who pays, there are things you need to know about the legal meaning of jewelry-related terms.

Pure gold is 24 karat. But because it is so soft, it is usually mixed with other metals. The karat marking tells you in what proportion the gold is mixed with the metal.

But, this is very different from gold-plated, gold overlay, or rolled gold plate, which describe jewelry that has a layer of gold on top of a base metal which does wear away over time.

Natural gemstones are found in nature, but lab-created stones are manmade. They are referred to as laboratory grown, created, or synthetic and while you can't see the difference between manmade and natural, the distinction affects the price.

But, of course, it's the quality of the spouse and not the jewelry that should be your concern.