Metal Types

Choosing your metal can be more difficult than meets the eye. Many people are familiar with yellow gold, white gold, rose gold and platinum. Despite this, most are not aware of their differences. Here, we outline a few key points for each metal, which will help you choose the right one for your custom piece.

Yellow Gold

Yellow gold is made of pure gold mixed with alloy metals such as copper and zinc. The amount of pure gold in jewellery depends on its karatage. A higher karat number means a more pure gold content.

The pros of yellow gold include:

  • It is the most hypoallergenic of all the three gold colours.
  • Easiest to maintain out of all gold alloys.
  • Yellow gold can easily be matched with diamonds of a lower color grade.

Rose Gold

Rose gold is made of pure gold and alloyed with copper to produce the rose color. The more copper used, the redder the gold appears.  Since rose gold is an alloy, “pure rose gold” does not exist.

The pros of rose gold include:

  • Considered by many to be the most romantic metal due to its pinkish-red color.
  • Very durable due to the strength of copper, making rose gold tougher than yellow or white gold.
  • A complement to all skin tones.

White Gold

White gold is made of a mixture of pure gold and white metals such as nickel, silver and palladium. To ensure a bright white finish, white gold pieces are usually electroplated with rhodium. Rhodium electroplating also provides a surface that will resist scratches and tarnish, however in time, the plating will wear off.

The pros of white gold include:

  • It is more affordable than platinum.
  • Alloys are made with stronger metals than yellow gold, making it more durable and scratch-resistant.
  • Complements white diamonds better than yellow gold, according to some.

Platinum

Platinum is stronger than gold, however it is softer than 14k gold, therefore it will scratch differently and more easily than gold. Being white in its natural state, platinum is thus a lower maintenance metal–it will always stay white. It is also rare, which makes it more expensive than gold alloys.

The pros of platinum include:

  • Hypoallergenic properties which is popular with people who have sensitive skin or nickel allergies and can’t wear white gold.
  • It’s durability–a low-maintenance metal, ideal for everyday wear.
  • The cool-white colour, which accentuates diamonds better than other metals.