In England we spell jewelry as jewellery. Jewellery has been the English spelling for over 600 years and up until about 40 years after the 1776 declaration of Independence. There was a feeling in the then American government to distance itself from English influence. The Spelling was changed to Jewelry and the Gold standard was changed. Thus making trade more difficult.

The word Carat is spelled as Karat in the United States. The word carat derived from "Carob" - The Carob is a plant with beans that have a uniform size. It's Bean was used to compare the sizes of Gemstones in Ancient Egypt.

Karat and Carat are also used to describe the purity of Gold. 14 Karat is the Gold standard in America. 14K Gold is the equivalent of 14 Carat Gold in the UK.

The number represents the ratio of purity in 24th divisions. Thus 18 carat Gold is 18/24ths Pure Gold.

The English Gold standard is low thanks to a naughty king who is remembered more for his song composing rather than for his wisdom. King Henry VIII AKA (old Copper nose) had a passion for Tapestries. These vast embroideries take thousands of hours to make costing enormous sums to furnish the walls of the great halls of his castle.

King Henry ordered the royal mint to dilute the Gold with Copper. Pure Gold coins wear relatively quickly and are sent back to the royal mint for refining. Ironically these new coins lasted longer but any protruding features on the coins would wear to show Copper oxide with its giveaway reddish Colour. Poor old King Henry did have a rather big nose !

We like 9 carat gold because it is strong, We can made fine gold chains that would snap like cotton if made from 14K gold. In England most Gold jewellery is made from 9 or 18 carat gold.