While rising costs of labor in China have created challenges for the manufacturing sector, this has led to greater domestic consumption of luxury products, including jewelry. The highest growth potential lies in the inland urban centers, as Chinese citizens continue a massive migration from rural areas to the cities.
Minted in 22-karat gold  Using the durable gold standard established for gold circulating coinage more than 300 years ago, each Gold Eagle coin is minted in 91.67% fine gold alloyed with a small amount of silver and copper added to harden and protect it against damage. Pure, 24-karat gold is actually quite soft. Adding alloy to pure gold makes it many times more durable than gold itself. Each Gold Eagle coin contains its specified weight (one-ounce, half-ounce, quarter-ounce, or tenth-ounce) in pure 24-karat gold. The alloy weight is extra. A one-ounce American Gold Eagle, for example, actually weighs 1.0909 troy ounces.
The Karat. The karat designation of a gold item tells how much gold is present in the alloy used to make the item. Pure gold is 24-karat (24K), so a number smaller than 24 indicates how many 24ths of the alloy are gold. For example, 12K gold contains a minimum of 12/24 gold, or 50 percent.old designated 10K contains 37.5 percent pure gold and 62.5 percent other metals. Metal of less than 10K gold content cannot be sold as gold in the U.S. A typical 10K gold alloy contains 37.5 percent gold, 52 percent silver, 4.9 percent copper, 4.2 percent zinc and 1.4 percent nickel.