What is white gold?
White gold is the name given to gold from which the actual gold colour has been removed with the help of silver, chromium or platinum metals in order to create a silvery colouring of the precious metal.
White gold contains 100% of the silvery color that can be seen on the surface - the precious metal therefore carries its color not only on the surface, but also in its deepest layers. The silver color of white gold cannot be removed by use, scratching or sawing.
Engagement rings in white gold | Stud earrings in white gold
Diamond jewelry in white gold by RENÉSIM
The History of White Gold
The origins of white gold go back to 1912: In the city of Pforzheim, precious metals under this name were first used to make white gold jewelry, which resembled platinum in appearance.
White gold has the advantage over platinum that it is cheaper, lighter and easier to design due to its softness.
High-quality alternative to silver
Compared to silver, white gold has the advantage that it does not oxidize and therefore does not develop unsightly discoloration. Today, many high-quality pieces of jewelry are made from white gold as an alternative to the more common and cheaper silver.
white gold in jewelry
White gold is not a protected term – therefore, there are a variety of white gold alloys that differ in their color, quality and price.
White gold also exists with varying fine gold contents. As with yellow gold, a gold content of 75% is best suited for the production of white gold jewelry (750 white gold). 585 white gold is also widely used, which - as the name suggests - consists of (585/1000) 58.5% fine gold and is therefore less valuable.
Due to the color stability, wedding rings are now often made of white gold rather than silver.
palladium white gold
This white gold alloy is made up of either gold, silver and palladium, or just gold and palladium . In some white gold alloys with a low gold content, as much palladium is added to the mass as is necessary to achieve the desired color. The rest, which is still needed to achieve the intended mass, is filled with silver and copper - two metals that largely neutralize each other in terms of their color.
Examples of white gold alloys with copper content are the 370 white gold with the color Premium White (e.g. 37% gold, 11% silver, 20% copper and 32% palladium) as well as the standard white alloys (e.g. 45% gold, 13% silver, 12% copper and 25% palladium).
If the gold content is higher, copper is omitted. 750 palladium white gold is either made up of just gold and palladium (75% gold, 25% palladium) or also contains a silver content.
At RENÉSIM we mainly use high-quality 18-carat palladium white gold (750) with a palladium content of 14%. To ensure that the pieces of jewellery remain in their original beauty for as long as possible and are protected from external influences, they are given an additional protective layer in the form of rhodium plating .
silver-white gold
As its name suggests, this white gold consists mainly of gold and silver, with smaller amounts of other metals occasionally added.
This white gold alloy is available with a fineness of 33.3%, 59% and 75%. 333 silver white gold achieves the color Standard White, but the term 670 silver would be more appropriate here.
Less common white gold alloy
Chromium is very good at decolorizing gold . The problem with this alloy, however, is that it is very difficult to shape. This is the reason why chromium white gold has not been able to establish itself on the jewelry market.
By adding iron, a white-bluish color can be created in the gold, for example in iron white gold 750 (75% gold, 25% iron). However, this white gold is hardly common in Germany.
At the end of the 1990s, attempts were made to replace the harmful nickel white gold with manganese white gold as a more cost-effective alternative to palladium white gold. However, it quickly disappeared from the market because it has a slightly yellowish color and is prone to discoloration.
Platinum white gold has also not been able to hold its own among jewelers because its color is relatively dark and difficult to process into jewelry.
Sugar Loaf Earrings – 18-carat white gold (750)
White gold and its color gradations
Due to the large variety of white gold alloys and their different colors and textures, it is difficult for the consumer to judge whether jewelry is of good or bad quality.
Rhodium-plated yellow gold is often mistakenly passed off as white gold. However, the yellow gold is only coloured silver on the surface by coating it with a layer of platinum or platinum-containing metals. This coating is removed by wear and reveals the actual colour of the precious metal.
In addition, actual white gold with rhodium plating can also be purchased on the market. Rhodium plating usually serves as an additional protective layer for the gold, but also has the disadvantage of covering up poor material properties.
These and other reasons are the reasons why the MJSA (Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America) and the World Gold Council jointly created the so-called White Gold Task Force. This has canonized the different color nuances of white gold based on the ASTM Yellowness Index D1925.
There are three quality levels of white gold:
1. Premium White, 2. Standard White and 3. Off White.
All other variants that do not fall into any of these three categories are no longer referred to as white gold, but as poor white.
However, this classification has not yet established itself as a generally valid guideline.
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