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Properties
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Pros
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Cons
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Yellow Gold
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Made by mixing pure gold with alloy metals such as copper and zinc.24 Karat:99.9% Pure
22 Karat: 91.7% Pure
18 Karat: 75% Pure
14 Karat: 58.3% PureThe higher the karat amount, the purer the gold content but the less durable the metal. Therefore, usually 14K or 18K gold is used to mount engagement and wedding rings. |
- Historically, most popular metal used for wedding and engagement bands, and thus appropriate for vintage style settings.
- Symbolic of the best, like winning a gold medal for first place.
- Yellow gold is the purest color of all the colored golds, as the mineral looks golden (yellow) when mined.
- The most hypo-allergenic of all the gold colors.
- Requires the least maintenance of all the gold colors.
- Most malleable, easiest for jewelers to manipulate.
- Complements olive and darker skin tones.
- Can be matched with lower color diamonds
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- Does not complement pale or rosy skin tones.
- Should be polished and cleaned regularly.
- Can be dented and scratched.
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White Gold
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Is an alloy (or mixture) of pure gold and some white metal(s) such as silver, nickel, manganese and/or palladium, and often coated in rhodium. |
- More affordable than platinum.
- Has been more popular than yellow gold for many years.
- White gold is alloyed with stronger metals than yellow gold and thus is more durable and scratch-resistant.
- White gold complements white diamonds better than yellow gold, according to some opinions.
- Complements fair or rosy skin tones.
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- Needs to be dipped every few years to retain its color and luster and replace the rhodium plating, but this is inexpensive and many jewelers offer this service for free.
- Often has nickel in it which causes allergic reactions to some, thus not hypo-allergenic unless made with other alloy metals.
- Does not complement olive and darker skin tones.
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Rose Gold
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Alloyed with copper to produce the rose color. Red, rose, and pink gold refer to various shades of this family. Basically, the more copper, the redder the gold becomes. A common alloy for rose gold is 75% gold and 25% copper by mass (18K). Like white gold, since rose gold is an alloy, “pure rose gold” doesn’t actually exist. |
- Considered by many to be the most romantic metal due to its pinkish-red color.
- May be more affordable than other metals since copper — the alloy used to make rose gold — costs less.
- Copper is also very durable and makes rose gold a tougher metal than yellow or white gold.
- Rose gold is very much in style for both men’s and women’s rings.
- Complements all skin tones.
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- Copper can causes allergic reactions in some people, therefore not a hypo-allergenic metal.
- Even though rose gold rings are in style now, they are still not as widely available as yellow and white gold.
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Platinum
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Has a natural white/silver color. May also include other metals. In order for jewelry to be sold as platinum, it must have at least 95% platinum, less than that would be called a platinum alloy. |
- Very durable metal, stronger than gold.
- Heaviest/densest precious metal.
- Hypoallergenic.
- Rarer than gold, and considered to be symbol of prestige, i.e., “platinum” credit card has greater privileges than “gold” credit card.
- Like white gold, it looks best on fair and rosy skin tones.
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- Will get scratched and dull over time. Needs to be cleaned/polished every few years, but this strips away some of the platinum.
- Significantly more expensive than white gold, which looks the same, for about half the price and less upkeep.
- Does not complement olive and darker skin tones.
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