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
Carat (mass) suggested, and was finally proposed by the International Committee of Weights and Measures, and accepted at the fourth sexennial General Conference of the Metric Convention held in Paris in October 1907. It was soon made compulsory by law in France, but uptake of the new carat was slower in England, where its use was allowed by the Weights and Measures (Metric System) Act of 1897. In the United Kingdom the original Board of Trade carat was exactly grains (~3.170 grains = ~205 mg); in 1888, the Board of Trade carat was changed to exactly grains (~3.168 grains = ~205 mg).