Where Does White Gold Come From?
At SuperJeweler, we know a few things about jewelry. For instance, we know that we sell white gold jewelry items at 10 times the rate we sell yellow jewelry. And that’s pretty standard among most jewelry retailers. We also know, however, that most people really have no idea just what white gold is or where it comes from. So that’s what we are going to talk about today.
We all know that gold, in its purest form, is yellow. So what exactly is white gold? A while back, we did a post titled What Are The Types of Gold? and we are going to revisit a couple of those points here.
Pure 100% gold is 24k gold. Because pure gold is a very soft and malleable metal, jewelers mix it with alloys to strengthen it. For instance, the popular 14k gold is 58.3% pure gold and 41.7% alloys. So 14k gold is actually less valuable than 24k gold, but is much stronger and will last longer under normal jewelry-wearing conditions.
One of the most common alloys used in white gold is Nickel,which will give yellow gold a whitish tint, but that’s not all. At the end of the manufacturing process, white gold receives a coating of Rhodium, which is another rare metal that gives the white gold a bright, platinum-like appearance.
Because the Rhodium is a coating, however, it may begin to wear off in time. This is completely normal and to be expected of white gold jewelry. In this case, the piece will need to go through a simple re-Rhodium process. (As an interesting aside, Rhodium coating may also be applied to some silver pieces to help reduce tarnishing.)
While we are talking about alloys, we would be remiss if we didn’t address the commonality of Nickel allergies. It is estimated that one-in-eight people have allergic reactions to nickel. If you are among this group, you can try a few things. The most obvious would be to simply avoid white gold jewelry. Some people with Nickel allergies, however, have been able to continue wearing the white gold jewelry they love by simply coating it with clear nail polish from time to time. Still, if you are unsure as to the severity of your Nickel allergy, it is always best to check with your doctor regarding the matter.
And remember, whether your prefer white gold, yellow gold, silver, platinum or even titanium jewelry, you can find it all at SuperJeweler.
The SuperJeweler Blog » How to Tell if a Diamond is Real on Wed, 13th Apr 2011 5:24 pm
[...] our last post, we talked about white gold, specifically answering the question: Where Does White Gold Come From? Another question worth asking before making any jewelry purchase is whether the diamonds are real [...]