A frequently asked question from our clients who are designing a custom engagement ring or other fine jewelry piece is which metal to choose and what the differences are between the various options. When it comes to creating an engagement ring, there are several metals to consider. Below, we highlight the key differences between the most popular choices.
What Metal Should You Choose for Your Engagement Ring?
Gold in its purest form is 24 karat, but it’s too soft to hold stones securely, which is why it’s alloyed with other metals such as nickel or cadmium. As the gold content decreases, more of these additional metals are mixed in, affecting both the color and value of the finished piece—less gold means a lower value. Since 24 karat gold is pure, 14 karat gold contains less gold than 18 karat gold. For comparison, here’s an image of two rings side by side: the ring on the left is 14 karat, while the one on the right is 18 karat. Notice how the 18 karat ring has a deeper yellow hue? This is due to its higher gold content, giving it a richer tone.
As far as color, gold in its pure form is yellow. So the more you reduce the amount of gold content in your mixture, the more muted the yellow will look. Some people prefer the softer yellow gold look. If that’s your preference, then a 14 karat gold setting might be right for you. If you like a stronger yellow hue, then 18 karat is the way to go.
But What About Other Colors of Gold? And What in the World is Rhodium?
What if you don’t like yellow gold? What if you like white gold? Or rose gold? Or platinum? The same basic rules apply but keep in mind what we discussed a moment ago – natural gold, in its pure unaltered form, is yellow. Huh? So how do you get white gold and rose gold? Easy – for white gold you alloy pure gold with white metals and for rose gold you alloy it with copper metals. The right combination will get the look you want. If you want white gold, you also need to plate the finished piece in a very hard, very brittle substance called rhodium. Here’s a photo of a rose gold ring, a yellow gold ring, and a white gold ring side by side.
Rhodium is a brilliant white metal that is used to plate gold jewelry to give it that bright white look. Keep in mind that when you plate something in in rhodium, you have to do annual maintenance on the piece by replating it, otherwise the rhodium will wear off and your ring will change color. If you want to have a piece of white jewelry but don’t want to deal with rhodium wearing off, you can always make your ring in platinum. Platinum is softer than 18K or 14K gold, so keep that in mind if you opt for a platinum piece. The piece will develop what’s called a “patina” or a series of very small indentations on the ring just generated from being worn daily. You can easily polish those out, but some people like them as they feel it give their ring character. One other word about making jewelry in platinum – platinum is heavier than gold, so it’s typically not advised to be worn on more sensitive parts of the body, like earlobes. The weight of the jewelry could bother some people. If you'd like to learn more, contact us here for a free consultation!