Jewelry -- Choosing between 14kt white gold and 14kt yelllow gold?

Question

With all else equal, is the value of an engagment ring made from white gold less than from yellow gold? I personally prefer the white gold appearance.

Answer 1

Gold as it comes out of the ground is a pure element that is yellow and relatively soft. That's your "24 karat gold." Many people like the yellow color of 24 karat gold, but the lack of hardness can be a disadvantage in jewelery, so it is alloyed with other metals. This affects the color in addition to the hardness. To make white gold, an alloy of palladium and nickel is added to the gold. Jewelers talk about other colors, too: add a little copper for a "pinkish" caste; if you want a "green" tint, add silver. Zinc is added to make the gold harder.
The "karat" tells how much alloy of other metals is used -- 18k gold is 75% gold and 25% alloy, 14 karat has more alloy, etc. One might think that yellow gold would always be more expensive than white because it is "purer," but that isn't necessarily true. White gold can be more expensive because it's harder to fabricate. A good gold "manufacturer" is judged by his or her ability to use the different alloys to achieve the qualities desired in jewelry. The head of a ring that holds a gemstone, for example, must be hard but also flexible, so the alloy is important there.

Just so you can really impress the girls at bridge tonight, 24k gold is 99.99% gold, 22k is 91.67% gold, and 20k is 83.33% gold. Those of such high karatage are most often used in Asia and the Middle East. Generally, 20k or higher is yellow in color. 18k is 75% gold and is the most common karatage in Europe. It's also popular in America and can be yellow or other colors. 18k white gold made with nickel is very hard. 18k yellow gold is softer than its 14k counterpart. 14k gold is most common in the USA and can be yellow or other colors. 14k white gold is harder and used in prong settings. 14k white gold has a yellowish tinge and is often plated with rhodium (a platinum group metal) to give it a white appearance. 12k gold is 50% gold and is commonly used in class rings and can be other color. 10k gold is 41.67% gold and is common in promotional goods. It's the lowest alloy that can be called gold in the US and it's very brittle.


What is the difference between White Gold and Yellow Gold?

To understand White Gold, one needs to understand Yellow Gold



Pure Yellow Gold (fine gold) is softer than pure silver, but harder than tin. Its beauty and luster are unmatched by any alloyed gold (pure gold mixed with other metals). The extreme malleability, ductility, and softness of pure gold make it practically useless for jewelry applications. It is just too soft!



The addition of alloying elements (other metals) to gold are used to increase the toughness and hardness of the metal. While almost any metal can be alloyed (melted) with gold, only certain metals will not dramatically change the color or make the metal brittle. The addition of the metal like Indium (great as an alloy with Platinum), for instance, turns gold into a purple color and gives resulting gold the workability of glass. Any pressure and it shatters.



Over time, certain percentages of gold have become legally recognized "karats." The karat indicates the amount of gold as a percentage of the total:

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24 karat is 24/24's gold or 100% gold.
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18 karat is 18/24's gold or 75% gold (25% of the other metals are non-gold)
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14 karat is 14/24's gold or 58.33% gold. (41.67% of the other metals are non-gold)

In karated gold, there is a balance of the other metals in the non-gold percentage. These metals provide the various colors and hardness of karated golds.



Typical alloying metals mixed with gold and their color visual effects are:

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24 karat Gold has a stunning visual Gold effect of course
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Mixing Gold with Copper causes a visual Reddening effect
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Mixing Gold with Silver causes a visual Greening effect
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Mixing Gold with Zinc causes a visual Bleaching effect of the gold
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Mixing Gold with Nickel causes a visual Whitening effect
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Mixing Gold with Palladium causes a visual Whitening effect

How do jewelers use the above metal alloys to obtain different visual Gold colors???

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18k and 14k Yellow Gold is Gold alloyed with copper, silver, zinc
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14k and 18k White Gold is Gold alloyed with copper, nickel, zinc
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Red Gold (or Rose) is Gold alloyed with just copper
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Green Gold (you hardly see it ever used) is Gold alloyed with just silver

Adjusting the proportions of coloring metal agents shown above provides the array of colors on the market.



So finally, what is the difference between 14k & 18k Yellow Gold and 14k & 18k White Gold???

Yellow Gold is alloyed with silver, while White Gold is alloyed with nickel. It is that simple.



So if someone ever tells you 14k White Gold and 14k Yellow Gold are different, they are correct to a point. They are different only in visual color and whether one of the additional metals alloyed with the Gold was silver or nickel. They are not different as to their 58.3% pure Gold content and they are not different as to their percentages of alloyed copper and zinc.



Short answer is:

Are Yellow Gold and White Gold different metals? NO!!

Are Yellow Gold and White Gold different Gold alloys? YES!!



Even though it is called ‘White Gold’, the alloyed metal has a slight yellowish tint. A jewelry item made of White Gold is often electroplated with a thin coating of Rhodium, which is a member of the Platinum family metals (to make it more white from its yellow).

There really is no distinct advantage in using White Gold versus Yellow Gold; it is a matter of personal 'metal' visual preference.


I hope this helps. and i completly agree with you that white gold does look a lot better. yellow gold is a more "oldish, long time ago" thing. verses white gold, is modern and beautiful. and i dont think it really matters what value of what ring is better, what matters is that the customer loves it. well good luck, hope i could help

Answer 2

White gold is actually more expensive. I am very traditional with jewelry. I prefer silver but I wanted a gold engagement ring, so I have a solitaire diamond in a white gold setting. It looks very much like an engagement ring. (My fiance proposed with a temporary ring and then let me pick out what I wanted.)

Keep in mind that your wedding band will most likely be the same color gold, and that your husband's does not have to match--my fiance is going to have a plain yellow band with a stamp.

Think also about what you already wear. If you wear a lot of silver, it goes well with white gold, but if you wear a lot of yellow gold, then you might want to think about yellow gold rings.

Answer 3

My opinion is that white gold is always better. But I really really don't like yellow gold. So it's personal preference over value or price any day for me.

I honestly don't know if white is more expensive than yellow or not. I would assume so because it is more popular and of course jewelers will always try to make more money.

Answer 4

I like white gold too! But I don't think white gold is anymore then yellow gold. Platinum is the most expensive. What looks best with your skin tone?

Answer 5

White gold is a little more expensive. I also prefer the white gold. My engagement ring is white gold and was definately more expensive than yellow. Good taste!!

Answer 6

Gold is valued based on it's weight, therefore it will not matter whether it's white or yellow. Everything else will be the same, so I would say just base your choice on your own personal preference.

Answer 7

White gold is Platinum. It is more expensive and has better qualities than yellow gold. You can look it up on yahoo search engine.

Answer 8

yup as far as i know, the price of white gold is definitely a bit higher than the yellow ones..i should think that white gold looks spectacular in comparison with the yellow ones..white gold is my preference too..hehe

Answer 9

white gold value is lower then yellow gold...as white gold is made by mixing Alloys in the gold...

Answer 10

I don't believe there is a whole lot of difference in the value bacause their both gold. I prefer white also, its very in right now.

Answer 11

white gold all the way...yellow gold looks to fake these days