Photo By: whitneyinchicago
Yellow gold, rose gold, white gold? What is white gold; you may be asking, it seems like silver and almost like platinum, however its called gold; how can this be? Gold, when it is melted is blended with several other metals to make the color of the metal. Particularly in white gold, metals such as: palladium, platinum, or silver help create the white gold look. This also ensures its stability and tends to be stronger than silver and look like platinum without the expense; white gold is a great cost effective alternative to platinum. The main metal which helps to define the white gold glow is rhodium, which is plated over the white gold to give it it’s glow; without rhodium white gold would look more like silver.
Some things to keep in mind when buying white gold:
- When purchasing white gold make sure your girl isn’t allergic to nickel, because most of the older white gold rings were made with nickel which can cause an irritating effect to the finger.
- White gold can deteriorate over time, keep an eye on the ring band and the prong for wear. When the prongs or places in the ring start to wear it is good to fill it in with platinum, especially the prong to secure a hold on the diamond.
- 18 carat white gold is the softest gold and most expensive, because it is the purest. 10 carat is the hardest, as well as, the least expensive. However, one can’t really tell the difference in carats due to the rhodium plating.
Rose Gold. . .
Photo By: Cherry Pi
Rose gold is another type of gold of which the color is derived mainly from the metals melted with it. Rose gold is blended with the same metals as white gold, however copper is added instead of silver, to the blend to give it a pink tone. 18 carat rose gold will tend to be a lighter tone because more gold is in that blend to make it softer and purer. 10 carats of rose gold will tend to have a darker pinker tone because less gold is in it. Either of these weights in gold is a good thing, depending on what tone you would want in the ring.
Some things to keep in mind when purchasing rose gold:
- The types of ring bands that more commonly have rose gold are Edwardian, art deco, filigree, and Celtic engagement rings.
- Rose gold is very rare, so although copper is less expensive than silver, it will end up being the same cost with all the arrangements to finding and purchasing a rose gold ring.
- Also make sure your girl isn’t allergic to copper, because that is the main metal in rose gold.
