Why is jewellery made of gold or silver

These regulations are only followed in EU countries, so when you are buying your jewellery from outside the EU make sure you get information from the seller about what metal alloy has been used for getting white gold! Nowadays, white gold is covered with rhodium plating to create a bright, pure white finish.

Rhodium is a bright silver colour metal from the platinum family of metals. It is very expensive and is only used in a plating solution. You will never see a piece of jewellery made from solid rhodium. The wear time depends on how much the jewellery piece is used and how thick the original plating was.

For example, a pair of earrings may retain their plating for many years, but a wedding ring that is exposed to daily wear usually requires another plate in years. Cleaning and care : White gold rings are easy to resize if necessary, compared with titanium or platinum rings that can be difficult, if not impossible to resize. White gold colour will fade in time. The reason for this is that white gold rings are usually coated with rhodium to make them appear brighter and more silvery.

The rhodium does wear off eventually, so you need to get your white gold jewellery re-plated with rhodium, possibly as frequently as once a year. It does not take a long time and most professional jewellers offer this service. TIP : White gold is often used for engagement rings or rings that contain diamonds.

The white metal tends to highlight the diamonds, while yellow gold may give the stones a yellow tint. Rhodium plating makes diamonds look bigger and better because it's so bright and it glints like the diamonds. At first look and under most lighting conditions, it's hard to see where the stones end and the metal begins. Since copper has a bold pinkish-orange colour, adding this alloy to gold gives the gold a beautiful pinkish gold colour.

The varying percentage of copper used determines the colour of the gold. The more copper is used, the stronger the red colouration. Red gold was popular in Russia at the beginning of the nineteenth century and was also known as Russian gold although the term is rarely heard these days. Red gold is a very popular choice for rings.

Eco-friendly jewellery. For the media. Instagram links. Help Shipping. Ring size chart. Cleaning jewellery. Jewellery glossary. Contact Contact us. Mailing list. Just days till Christmas! What do you think about wearing different coloured metals together? Gold or silver jewellery? Which colour of metal to wear was traditionally determined by people's skin colouring: warmer colours meant gold metal, cooler colours meant silver metal. These days that's not considered to be so important and you can break such 'style rules' as you please, but you might still like to use them as a guide to help you get started with co-ordinating jewellery to suit you and your personal sense of style.

Retrieve your saved quote or application. Skip to main content. White Gold vs. Silver: What You Need to Know. Here's what you need to know when you're on the hunt for silver-hued jewelry. What is White Gold? What is Silver? Silver The type of jewelry you're looking to get will weigh heavily into your decision between white gold and silver.

Get a free quote, here. Affordability Silver is among the most affordable types of metal for jewelry, making it perfect for costume jewelry that you rotate with your wardrobe. Nickel Allergy? Check Your Rate. No personal information needed.