Learn about White Gold Engagement Rings
- White gold is yellow gold alloyed with other metals such as silver.
- The white hue of 9ct white gold has a warm tinge.
- 18ct white gold is a gun metal white colour.
- White gold is often rhodium plated to make it look like platinum.
General Information on White Gold
White gold is yellow gold that has been alloyed with other metals such as silver, palladium and platinum to give it a warm white coloured metal. A very popular choice at the moment as it has a more modern clean appearance as compared with yellow gold but still can be perhaps regarded as the 'traditional' engagement ring metal choice
All gold used in engagement rings is alloyed with other metals to make it a harder metal and suitable for setting gemstones and diamonds into, its just the choice of other metals that affects the colour. Because of this the proportion of gold to alloys is defined by the carat number (which measure the parts of gold out of a total of 24) in the same way that yellow gold is defined.
9ct white gold
9ct white gold is a slightly yellowy white colour as compared with 18ct white gold.
18ct white gold
18ct white gold is more of a 'gun metal' colour than 9ct
Rhodium Plating
Rhodium is pure metal that can be plated on top of white gold to give it a steely white platinum like appearance. This is a good way to achieve a platinum looking ring without the extra expense of using platinum in your engagement ring. However this plating will wear off over time to reveal the more yellowy coloured white gold underneath. The speed at which this wearing takes place can vary hugely between people, from only a few months to several years. However it is simple and cheap to have a ring re-rhodium plated and Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design or any other jeweller are always happy to do this.
A lot of 'high street jewellers' don't offer the opportunity for customers to purchase white gold engagement rings that aren't rhodium plated. At Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design we talk to each customer about the pros and cons of plating or not plating rhodium over your white gold engagement ring.
We are very excited to be able to offer pre-certified fair trade white gold for some designs. Originating from an artisan mine in Columbia, we can include this gold in your engagement rings.
Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to arrange a design consultation.
Related blog articles
- Alice's blog article: Dirty Gold.
- Harriet's blog article: White Precious Metal.
- Harriet's blog on How to choose a white metal for your engagement ring.