Why is 18K WG more expensive than 18K YG?

[cookies]

I was asking a jeweler for a quote, and was told that 18K white gold costs 40% more than 18K yellow gold. I always thought WG should not cost more, since it has less gold in it. Am I completely wrong? Why would WG cost more?

 

[february2003bride]

I'm going to take a guess and say due to popularity?

 

[yssie]

I was asking a jeweler for a quote, and was told that 18K white gold costs 40% more than 18K yellow gold. I always thought WG should not cost more, since it has less gold in it. Am I completely wrong? Why would WG cost more?

white and yellow of a given karat will have the same amount of gold (by percent) - I'd guess popularity as the reason for the price difference too, unless it's a specialty white gold alloy that contains more expensive materials or a custom preparation. 40% is a hefty markup!

 

[cookies]

The demand-supply explanation makes sense to me.

 

[WinkHPD]

Just guessing here since we do not have all the needed info, but is the yellow gold an in stock piece that might have been purchased at lower gold prices, and the white gold a new piece that would need to be ordered?

Did you ask the jeweler?

Wink

P.S. As was stated above, 18kt white gold and 18kt yellow gold have the same amount of gold, 75% and the other 25% are alloys.

 

[stone-cold11]

Depends on the alloying metal. Maybe it uses Pd which is much more expensive than Ni, the normal WG alloy metal. Even if both are 18k, depending on the density of the alloying metal, the amount of gold used can be quite different as 18k is by weight but your ring has a fix volume.

EDT:
Pd is traded at 760 USD / troy oz while Ni is traded at 13 USD / lb.

 

[cookies]

Just guessing here since we do not have all the needed info, but is the yellow gold an in stock piece that might have been purchased at lower gold prices, and the white gold a new piece that would need to be ordered?

Did you ask the jeweler?

Wink

It is a custom piece, not an in-stock piece.

 

[denverappraiser]

With most jewelers, white and yellow gold of a particular karatage cost the same. Each jeweler sets their own prices, of course, and this fellow is welcome to charge whatever the market will bear. I would be curious over how that's working out for him/her?

In defense of the jeweler, white gold is slightly more difficult to work with and it does usually involve a rhodium plating when the piece is done. I suppose this could acocunt for at least some of the difference. It's also possible that certain recipies of alloy will raise the metal costs a little bit but, in most cases, the costs of labor and overhead outweigh the cost of the metal by a considerable margin.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I believe I'd be getting quotes elsewhere. I am not seeing this difference in jewelers I look at.