what is white gold, is it just normal gold coloured?

Answer 1

Gold is yellow--and that is the only color pure (24 karat) gold is. It's what is added to gold that effects it color--not the gold itself.

White gold can be produced up to 21 karat. There must be at least 3 parts (karats) of the 24 karats of pure gold that is other metals. By adding certain other metals to gold the yellow of the pure gold can be bleached to a white appearance.

In reality, instead of "coloring" yellow gold to become white, the alloying process is actually "bleaching" the yellow gold by adding (alloying) it with gray metals. Nickel and palladium are the strongest bleachers of yellow gold, silver and zinc bleach moderately and all other gray metals are moderate to weak bleachers.

Most white gold used in jewelry is either a white gold produced with nickel (nickel-whites) or a white gold produced with palldium (palladium-whites). Most white golds used in North America are produced with nickel.

Answer 2

White gold is normal gold, which always has the same "gold" colour alloyed with other metals to make it white (most often silver) The reason doing for this is either to produce a cheaper metal than platinum for making jewellery, also some stones look far better when mounted in a white metal - diamonds for example. Gold can be produced in a whole range of colours by alloying with different metals, for example - pink, green, blue, lilac and others. All these colours are pale and all have gold in the background. Few of the range of colours are used in jewellary as they are difficult to work with being too hard or brittle but can sometimes be seen in work of the highest quality where expense is of no account.
Rhodium plating is not used for gold but is often used on silver items as a way of stopping the silver from tarnishing in contact with the air and the acids in human sweat.

Answer 3

For a much better answer see:

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20000914.html

What I found funny is that modern white gold usually is plated entirely with a hard coat of rhodium. So even though there is gold inside, the part you are looking at isn't actually gold at all!

It's not like you are being ripped off because rhodium is expensive too. I guess the reason that white gold even exists is that people really like the name 'white gold'.

Answer 4

White gold is an alloy of gold and silver or gold and platinum.