Gold leaf Gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-karat yellow gold. Gold leaf is a type of metal leaf, but the term is rarely used when referring to gold leaf. The term "metal leaf" is normally used for thin sheets of metal of any color that do not contain any real gold. Pure gold is 24 karats. Real, yellow gold leaf is approximately 91.7% pure gold. Silver-colored white gold
Fineness the volume of gold in an alloy, divide the volume of gold in cubic centimetres or in millilitres by the total volume of the alloy in cubic centimetres or in millilitres. For 10-carat gold, the gold volume in the alloy represents about 26% of the total volume for standard yellow gold. Talking about purity according to mass could lead to some misunderstandings; for many people, purity means volume. "Karat" is a variant of "carat". First attested in English in the mid-15th century, the word "carat" came from Middle French , in turn derived either from Italian or Medieval Latin .