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From engagement rings to wedding bands, brides and grooms adore white gold. But what exactly is this metal that resonates so deeply with those about to exchange vows. What advantages does it offer,and how do you preserve the brilliance of your cherised jewelry? In this article, we share nearly all there is to know about white gold.
To the naked eye, it's hard to see the subtleties between these different designations, but upon closer inspection, this is what will influence the price of your jewel.While platinum and white gold share a similar color, they differ in composition. Moreover, there are also differences in purity between 18K and 9K white gold. Let's take a look.
White gold does not exist in nature. Gold is naturally yellow. White gold is created through an alloy process, blending pure gold, such as yellow gold, with various other metals (silver, zinc or palladium) that give it its "white" or gray color.
Platinum, on the other hand, is a naturally white metal. Jewellers work with 95% pure platinum (with only 5% copper or tungsten added, depending on the application).
So why the price difference? Certainly because it's a difficult metal to work with, necessitating more time from your jeweller in crafting your wedding ring. But back to the metal: First, because platinum is pure. Virtually no alloys, just precious metal. Secondly, because platinum is rare: if you put all the platinum on Earth in an Olympic-sized swimming pool, you'd only have enough to last ankle-deep! Finally, because platinum is eternal: A platinum ring doesn't wear out: it will always retain the same weight. Shocks over time will only displace the platinum atoms, but there will be no loss of metal.
Pure, Rare, Eternal... like your love!
For a more affordable white metal, we can recommend white gold. To prevent the gold's original yellow color from fading over time, here's a tip: insist on palladium-coated white gold. This gold contains a palladium-based alloy, which is, to simplify, a metal derived from platinum. Platinum naturally means white. So your wedding ring will retain its beautiful, brilliant hue.
In your quest to find THE ring you'll wear for the rest of your life, you'll hear about different carats, or thousandths. What are they? It's very simple. The carat or thousandth is in fact the expression of the quantity of pure gold in your jewel. A ring in 18-carat or 750 thousandths white gold (also noted 750 ‰) is therefore made up of 75% pure gold, and 25% of other metals that complement it (silver, copper and zinc).
9-carat or 375 thousandths white gold (also known as 375‰) contains only 37.5% of fine gold, with the remaining 62.5% divided between silver, copper and zinc.
How do you find your way around when White is White?
The legislator has foreseen everything with ... title hallmarks: Thus, a platinum wedding band will be hallmarked with a Dog's Head, an 18K gold wedding band with an Eagle's Head and a 9K gold wedding band with a Trefoil!
