What is white gold?
White gold is an alloy that comprises of Fine Gold with other precious and base metals. As Fine Gold is a yellow metal, other alloys must be added to ‘bleach’ the metal to a relatively white or steelish colour. Palladium, Silver, Platinum and Nickel are the most commonly used metals added to Fine Gold to in order to produce white gold. By adding these alloys to Fine Gold the resulting alloy reflects more white light than yellow light.
As Nickel can sometimes cause an allergic reaction in people with sensitive skin, it is not recommended as a whitening agent in white gold jewellery. For this reason at Diamond Imports white gold jewellery products are produced using Palladium as the major bleaching agent.
The colour of white gold can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer due to a wide variety of white gold alloys. To keep the white colour consistent and bright, white gold jewellery is mostly rhodium plated. However, current international trends suggest that colour variations in white gold may be acceptable even desirable for some jewellery products. It is up to the individual manufacturer to consider the design objectives and the needs of the customer when making the decision to rhodium plate or maintain the natural state of the alloy.
What is rhodium plating?
Rhodium is an elemental metal, from the Platinum group of metals. It is a non-tarnishing metal, which is very white and hard. Rhodium plating is used to give a consistent and bright white colour to white gold jewellery. Rhodium plating may also be used on yellow or pink gold products to colour a specific area of product white.
Maintenance of white gold jewellery?
White gold jewellery may be cared for in the same way as yellow gold.
As most white gold products have been rhodium plated, it is important to note that rhodium plating is not a permanent plating, it will fade or wear over time. As it wears, the original colour of the metal beneath will show through. The length of time rhodium plating will last on a piece of jewellery depends on the individual wearer. Some people may find that the plating wears quite rapidly, while others will find that the colour lasts for a long period. In order to maintain the bright white colour, jewellery may be re-rhodium plated by a jeweller, as often as desired.
What kind of jewellery is white gold suitable for?
White gold is currently being used to produce all kinds of jewellery, including rings, chains, bracelets and earrings. Primarily white gold is used to compliment gemstones in a setting, particularly diamonds. Light reflected through the pavilion of a diamond set in white gold enhances the stone’s brilliance. Also, setting diamonds in white gold makes the setting area more a design feature.
What is the difference between white gold and platinum?
Platinum is a naturally occurring white metal whereas white gold is created by combining fine gold (which is yellow in colour) with other alloys to bleach the colour to white. As platinum is pure, it will maintain it’s naturally bright white colour, and does not need to be rhodium plated.
Platinum jewellery contains more fine metal than carat gold jewellery. Most platinum jewellery is 85%, 90%, 95% or 96% pure, (Diamond Imports platinum products are 95% or 96%) compared to 18-carat gold jewellery, which is 75% pure.
The purity of platinum makes it hypo-allergenic and tarnish resistant. 
Platinum is even more rare than gold. In fact, 50 tons of ore is required to produce just 50 grams of platinum. Platinum is a greyish-white metal that is malleable yet, like gold, is resistant to attack by air, moisture, and most solutions. Its melting point is even higher than gold, at just over 3,000°F. It ranks 72 in abundance among the elements.
Platinum is generally alloyed with gold when used in jewellery.
Platinum is one of the heaviest and strongest metals in the world. Weighing 60% more than carat gold, platinum is extremely dense, and also very durable, making it ideal for jewellery that is to be worn everyday.
Platinum is quite rare, with only approximately 65 tonnes of platinum produced per year, compared with approximately 3,300 tonnes of gold produced annually to create jewellery.
There is nothing like platinum for those who appreciate fine jewellery.
