Why do people like white gold? I think it is senseless

[duker]

Silver is white, the whitest metal in the universe. I understand that silver is not as expensive as gold, but I don't feel that reason is enough to think that white gold is better than silver.

I can't understand the sense of the white gold, why would you want to have white gold when you have the whitest metal in the universe available?

 

[JewelFreak]

Because silver tarnishes, scratches easily, and thus becomes dull with wear & time. Some people are allergic to the alloys in it. Look at a 100-yr-old white gold ring compared to a silver one the same age; you'll see the difference. Of course gold has had a cache since pre-history that silver can't match.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Because silver tarnishes, scratches easily, and thus becomes dull with wear & time. Some people are allergic to the alloys in it. Look at a 100-yr-old white gold ring compared to a silver one the same age; you'll see the difference. Of course gold has had a cache since pre-history that silver can't match.

I disagree with two points.

First, traditional silver alloys are less allergenic than white gold, since they don't need zinc and nickel for bleaching agents. Some casting alloys do contain frankenalloys, however. White gold, on the other hand, needs bleaching metals, which tend to be a lot more allergenic. Palladium is the exception, but a lot more expensive. And add in rhodium plating, which is sometimes done over an intermediate layer, and it is even worse.

Over history, silver has been more expensive than gold in several cases.

As you say, the main reason for using white gold is the question of durability. Gold is a lot harder than silver, which means it scratches less and is more suitable for prongs.

 

[movie zombie]

actually, i rather agree with the OP....who is entitled to have an opinion.

i happen to love high karat yellow gold......and silver.

i have no problems with silver tarnishing as i wear my pieces which do not tarnish but develop a "patina". those i don't wear often are stored properly.

personally, i don't care for white gold at all. yes, i've seen some nice pieces here and in the real world. however, it is not something i "lust" for or desire to own.

 

[yssie]

Senseless?
I completely disagree, I find the subtle colour variations that different compositions yield very interesting... I suppose you're allowed to disagree
I don't like plating wg though.




A - plat (950/ru)
B - unplated 18k nickel wg from e-wb, custom piece (different manufacturer, wore it with the WF three-stone, good match in all lights)
75% Au, 15% Cu, 4.5% Zn, 4% Ni
C - unplated 18k nickel wg from e-wb, stock piece
?? TBD
D - plated wg from WF
E - 22k




B, C, A above
G - unplated 18k palladium wg from DBL

 

[Imdanny]

Of course gold has had a cache since pre-history that silver can't match.

Agreed. And IMHO there is no other precious metal that can match it.

I've always been intrigued by the famous quote attributed to King Louis (the I forget which number) about platinum. He is supposed to have said that platinum was the only metal fit for a king. I personally have never seen any evidence that he actually said it.

But even assuming that he said it, we're talking about around 1 3/4 mellennia after the year 0 and gold had already been used for thousands of years before then. The variety and virtuosity of what has been done with gold is unrivaled.

I have nothing against white gold but if it's rhodium plated I view it as what it is in terms of what you can see, ie rhodium. I have nothing against rhodium. I'm just saying it's not gold.

Silver is not generally used for engagement rings and wedding bands for the reasons Laurie's already mentioned.

 

[JewelFreak]

i have no problems with silver tarnishing as i wear my pieces which do not tarnish but develop a "patina". those i don't wear often are stored properly.

Agree with you about white gold, MZ, it doesn't excite me in the least. I confess to being a yellow or rose gold fan. You store your silver pieces well & I'm sure they look very good. But compare an heirloom silver ring to a gold one of the same age. With wear, the silver doesn't hold its beauty as well -- in fact, when I think back over the vintage & estate jewelers I've visited over the years, they have very little old silver jewelry. Why don't people buy silver wedding rings? They're much less expensive. I suppose because silver needs much more care for daily wear & I can't imagine it not getting scratched & tired looking eventually.

I am lucky enough to have a ton of sterling holloware & flatwear, mostly family stuff, and I ADORE it, store it carefully, & polish it constantly because it gives me joy. But for jewelry, not so much. I'm with Danny emotionally -- gold says something silver does not.

--- Laurie

 

[Imdanny]

Laurie, speaking of jewels bringing good cheer, it must be awesome to be you! Your ring is one of my favorite PS rings! It's so beautiful. I obviously don't own the coronet in my avatar. More's the pity! I spent a long time trying to figure out the best choice for me. It's gold for me and always will be.

 

[JewelFreak]

Oh, Danny, thank you. That's quite a compliment, considering all the gorgeous rings people here have! But if that coronet were yours, I'd be you in a New York minute.

--- Laurie

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I will have to agree that I do not care for plated white gold. I think for the most part it serves as a durable white metal for people who do not want to pay the price premium for platinum. Some people are turned off about the gray patina of platinum, but I think that is because they are seeing the common soft alloys and don't know they can get the harder alloys that stay shiny and white much longer. Obviously fine jewelry is not going to be made in sterling. David Yurman is an example of designer jewelry in sterling, and I like some of it as fashion jewelry, but no way would I have diamonds or valuable gems set in sterling. I think Yssie was very wise to use unplated white gold because she finds it more flattering to her skin tone and diamonds. All yellow gold under 24k has alloys, so to me, unplated white gold is just a less yellow version of yellow gold. (Like Laurie, I also have a large set of sterling flatware which is a good use of sterling.)

I went to a trunk show for Elizabeth Locke over the weekend and absolutely adored her gorgeous pieces in rich, hammered 19k yg!!!! But oh the price tags (I have found a dealer who will order at 20% off, though)! I am about done with my platinum jewelry collection, and yellow gold is my next pursuit!

 

[movie zombie]

confession: i have recently seen some plain [no stones of any kind] hoop earrings in white gold that i thought were nice looking. perhaps a better alternative to silver in that particular type of earring. however, i hate paying gold prices for something that is not yellow.

 

[AGBF]

Silver is white, the whitest metal in the universe. I understand that silver is not as expensive as gold, but I don't feel that reason is enough to think that white gold is better than silver.

I can't understand the sense of the white gold, why would you want to have white gold when you have the whitest metal in the universe available?

Georg Jensen would agree!

Deb

 

[lambskin]

I am a platinum snob. However I do set my earrrings in white gold rather than plat. because of weight, cost and I did not need the durability of plat. for earrings. I have a lot of fun pieces in sterling that I like to wear everyday. Some do tarnish more than others but clean up well with silver polish.

 

[reader]

Living here, I do see wedding bands done in silver, and a former employer and his wife married 20 years ago with heavy silver signet rings with their business logo. Note: none of these have stones, and still look great. I prefer sterling and platinum, but the designs I like are already in white gold, no sense remaking the wheel

 

[AGBF]

Living here, I do see wedding bands done in silver, and a former employer and his wife married 20 years ago with heavy silver signet rings with their business logo. Note: none of these have stones, and still look great. I prefer sterling and platinum, but the designs I like are already in white gold, no sense remaking the wheel

reader-

I know I should know, but my memory is terrible! Where is the "here" in "living here"?''

Deb

 

[Lee Little]

I cannot resist posting on this thread as I have written papers on this subject.
Back when Platinum was way more expensive than gold some clever jeweler figured how to make gold 'white' in order to increase profits. The term 'white gold' is misleading as no gold is white but is always 'golden' in color. Some people actually think that gold naturally comes in different colors. When gold is alloyed with certain metals we make different colors than golden but that almost always involves base metals that more people are allergic to. White gold is better described as gray gold but that doesn't sell well so it is usually plated with Rhodium then it is called 'white gold' even though the Rhodium is all that is really white and the gold alloy is still gray. Silver can also be plated with Rhodium so I am not sure what the advantages are of creating a gray alloy of gold then plating it as opposed to plating silver that is only 2% of the price of the gray gold when nobody can see what is under the plating anyways.
I would be more inclined to plate gold with silver in order to hide wealth but I am not an average consumer.
By the way, as far as I remember, gold and silver are both about the same hardness according to Moh's scale, 2.5-3 each so gold has not much if any advantage over silver in hardness. Platinum is considerably harder, about a 4, I think. Lower carat alloys of gold are harder than silver but they are also a higher percentage of lower quality metals that lend it the hardness. If hardness is one's priority and base metals do not bother the skin then remember that stainless steel is about a whopping 6.5 on the hardness scale.
I have heard that Silver is whiter than all other white metals and that Argentium Silver (an alloy of Silver, copper and germanium) is whiter than even Sterling. Argentium silver is also much more resistant to tarnishing than other silver and its known alloys. We will see more and more of this as time goes on.
I like the idea of Palladium but so far have not been inspired enough about it to actually find some and try it. I have heard it is harder to work with, however, it can make a gray gold alloy that does not contain base metals yet pretty much still needs to be plated.
On my bench I currently only use 18K yellow gold and Sterling silver, likely to change to be only 18K yellow gold and Argentium Silver. Personally I like '18K green gold' as it only contains gold and silver, no copper but it is harder to sell than yellow. Since I do not plate anything I will not likely add any gray gold to my bench even though the demand for 'white' gold is VERY high. I do not like the idea of plating as it seems deceptive. I can spot it in a second and it looks like cheap costume jewelry to me. I am a smith but I have never opened my mind to learn about plating so I confess that I am very ignorant on the subject.
Glad to see the educational threads like this one, thanks for getting it rolling! Best regards, Lee

 

[AGBF]

I enjoyed your posting, Lee. I think Argentium may be the fine silver in which one jeweler I did business with works, but I am not sure. I know that someone with whom I corresponded used "fine" silver, not "sterling silver".

As far as plating always being deceptive: I think vermeil has a long history as a part of traditional jewelry...and it certainly involves plating! Somehow using gold and silver (just as you do when you make green gold) does not sound too shabby...even if the piece being made is plated!!!

I hope you keep posting; you have a lot to contribute!

Deb/AGBF

 

[movie zombie]

i agree that it was a great post, Lee!

i think i'm liking green gold more and more....

 

[Enerchi]

Lee... if you return... could you post a sample of the gold's you use - 18K YG and the green gold?? I'd love to see the 2 together! Thanks

 

[KaeKae]

I've always liked white gold because that is what my mom had in her wedding set. I don't know if she chose the gold over platinum, or if my father did, but I do know she preferred the white medals, so that is why her set was white. Yg was big when I became engaged in 1987, so that's what DH chose for my surprise proposal. I changed it to wg for our 20th anniv. reset. I never considered going with platinum.

I also think it's cool that gold can be alloyed into other colors: white, rose, green. And, that even among those there are variations depending on the particular alloy.

 

[Lee Little]

Hi Deb, Movie Zombie and Enerchi,
Thanks, nice to hear that you enjoyed the post, I like to write when I have the time.
I am not sure of any official definition of the term 'fine silver' but generally when I hear the term I think of the .999 purity. A lot of the coins and bars I melt down when making my alloys are stamped 'fine silver' like this one that I had already chiseled the word 'silver' off of but had this pic already in my computer. (Ooopps, picture won't post, says I have to upload it to PS but I can't figure out how right now)
All the pictures that I have of my green gold pieces and my yellow gold pieces are taken at different times so likely the lighting, thus the color, will not be a true comparison so I will take some of two pieces together next time I get set up to take pictures then post them. The color difference is subtle. Usually my 18K alloy is about 76% fine gold, 12% fine silver and 12% copper which is fairly standard except for the extra 1% of gold that I add just because it makes me feel better. I just like the purist idea of there only being gold and silver in the alloy so the green gold really appeals to me personally. Copper is a much more reactive metal plus is much cheaper and more colorful. The heavier level of an undesirable reaction is pushed aside mainly in favor of the color and the lower price plus a little bit of strength, perhaps. At least copper is not a toxic base metal that is added just for creating a color or solely to cheapen the jewelers cost and happens to increase allergic reactions like crazy. I do like copper in alloys as it makes them more publicly acceptable around the world, plus I like it very much for water pipes, roofing and electrical wire. Best regards, Lee

 

[movie zombie]

LOL! had some copper pipes replaced under the house and made sure the plumber left them for me!

 

[altadea]

Lee - Great information thank you!! I personally love the warmth of white gold. I never have my items plated, but I also wear a lot of yellow gold, rose gold, green gold, and silver pieces. I really wish there were more green gold items available on the market because I love it!! I am also falling in love with chocolate and red gold....also hard to come by.

 

[Lee Little]

LOL! had some copper pipes replaced under the house and made sure the plumber left them for me!

Hey, sounds like a big jewelry project could be just around the corner with all that material ready for you! LOL. Seriously though, it is worth a fair price in scrap these days.

 

[movie zombie]

yes, it is....and useful perhaps for "projects".....i'm supposed to take a welding class and i just might find it handy!

 

[AGBF]

Usually my 18K alloy is about 76% fine gold, 12% fine silver and 12% copper which is fairly standard except for the extra 1% of gold that I add just because it makes me feel better. I just like the purist idea of there only being gold and silver in the alloy so the green gold really appeals to me personally. Copper is a much more reactive metal plus is much cheaper and more colorful. The heavier level of an undesirable reaction is pushed aside mainly in favor of the color and the lower price plus a little bit of strength, perhaps. At least copper is not a toxic base metal that is added just for creating a color or solely to cheapen the jewelers cost and happens to increase allergic reactions like crazy. I do like copper in alloys as it makes them more publicly acceptable around the world, plus I like it very much for water pipes, roofing and electrical wire.

I am, like you, a bit of a purist. I prefer high karat gold for that reason (its purity). However, I don't like my jewelry made out of just any metal, no matter how pure. Pure copper jewelry does nothing for me, for example. (My mother left me some interesting jewelry from the 1940's that appears to be made of copper along with her Georg Jensen silver jewelry from the same era.)

What I really dislike is being misled. As I said above, I think vermeil is classic. It is not meant to fool anyone if it is sold as vermeil: high karat gold over sterling silver. Two precious metals used together. That has always appealed to me. On the other hand, I was horrified to find that Gurhan had a base metal inside a 24K gold bangle to make it heavier, yet sold it as a gold bangle! I returned the one I had and had solid gold bangles made up for myself.

I also despise Tiffany's rubedo.

see links:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/tiffany-rubedo.172759/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/tiffany-rubedo.172759/[/URL]
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-is-rubedo.174801/#post-3182552#p3182552']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-is-rubedo.174801/#post-3182552#p3182552[/URL]

Rubedo is, in my opinion, a misrepresentation of a very low karat gold alloy made with a lot of silver and copper.

Deb/AGBF

 

[Lee Little]

Lee - Great information thank you!! I personally love the warmth of white gold. I never have my items plated, but I also wear a lot of yellow gold, rose gold, green gold, and silver pieces. I really wish there were more green gold items available on the market because I love it!! I am also falling in love with chocolate and red gold....also hard to come by.

Now I have heard of chocolate gold that is indeed pretty rare but I have no idea what red gold is or how they make it. I had no idea there was such knowledge of green gold out there like I see on this forum. I may have to start using it again.
By the way, I did buy a half kilo of Argentium Silver 960 so I will be learning a new trick with a little luck. Best regards, Lee

 

[AGBF]

I am also falling in love with chocolate and red gold....also hard to come by.

Now I have heard of chocolate gold that is indeed pretty rare but I have no idea what red gold is or how they make it.

Since altadea mentions red gold in the same posting as rose gold, I assume she finds a difference between the two. I have heard the terms, "rose gold"; "pink gold"; and "red gold" all used to describe gold alloys that include copper.

Deb/AGBF

 

[Kelly12]

Different people have different preference, may somethink you like, other think it is senseless.