Which gold to choose for wedding rings

The wedding day is approaching. And there’s so much to do: order this, pick up that, discuss… buy… Stop. And the wedding rings are not forgotten? That’s the most important thing! What are the criteria? Design, size, and proof. Oh, and color, of course. So, what color gold to choose?

The grade

333 or 375, 500, 585 or 750? For those who have ever been to a jewelry store, this question needs no explanation. Of course, we are talking about the grade, which means the content of gold itself in the product. The highest grade – 999 – means that the alloy contains 99.9% of the precious metal. But you will not find rings, bracelets, earrings and pendants of 999 grade on sale.

The thing is that pure gold is a very soft, plastic material, and a ring made of it cannot be worn every day – even fingernails will leave scratches on the surface. Only investment and banking products – bars and coins – are made of 999 grade metal.

For jewelry, gold alloys and ligatures are used – metals added to give the product some properties: hardness, resistance to damage, certain shades of color. Most often you can find 585 and 750 grades of jewelry on sale – they are the most common.

It is 585 or 750 proof gold for wedding rings is best suited. Such a “wedding ring” even after decades of marriage (with proper care, of course) will perfectly retain the shape, surface structure and bright clean shine.

“Trial” metric system is used in Russia and some other countries. In Europe, however, another system is adopted – the carat system. It is based on the calculation of the proportion of pure metal in 24 units of alloy. Thus, in the karat system 8 carats corresponds to 33.3% of gold, and 24 carats – 100%.

Color

Did you know that gold comes in blue, green, blue, brown, purple and even black? Imagine how spectacular a black engagement ring with white diamonds or a purple one with blue sapphires would look. But this, of course, is exotic, which is not to everyone’s taste. The most common and popular shades of gold pieces are red (pink), yellow and white.

As we have already mentioned, the color of a ring or earrings directly depends on the ligature – metal that is added to change the characteristics of the alloy. To understand the ratio of gold to ligature, you need to look at the proof. If the number 585 is stamped on a chain or necklace, it means that in 1 kilogram of such an alloy there are 585 grams of gold, the rest of the mass is ligature. For more details on gold assay, please refer to our separate article “What is gold assay”.

Yellow gold

Figure 1. Yellow gold

Yellow gold is the most popular type of alloy for jewelry today, especially in European countries. And this is not surprising – sunny yellow is the closest to the natural color of the metal. Jewelry made of this alloy does not tarnish over time and is perfect for everyday wear. For example, in the form of a wedding ring.

Curious about the variety and luxury of shades of yellow gold. It can be as bright as an egg yolk, light straw, champagne color, mysterious greenish. The alloy includes silver, copper, nickel and zinc.

Red gold

Figure 2. Red gold

Gold with a noble pink hue is called red gold. Products made of it are durable, wear-resistant, unpretentious and yet look luxurious. An excellent choice for an engagement ring. As alloying elements for the alloy used silver, nickel, palladium, palladium, platinum and copper, which provides the ring with a mesmerizing reddish range. Depending on the ratio of components in the ligature depends on the shade of the product – from almost scarlet to delicate pink.

White gold

Fig. 3. White gold

This word combination itself can cause cognitive dissonance. After all, aurum is supposed to be yellow, right? Well, maybe pinkish. But it is white gold that is now gaining popularity faster than other types. The composition of the jewelry alloy includes the precious metal itself, impurities of silver, palladium, platinum, zinc, cadmium, manganese and nickel, which not only improve the performance characteristics of the jewelry, but also “whiten” the alloy.

White metal looks extremely graceful and elegant in openwork jewelry and especially in the company of precious stones, such as transparent diamonds. Dazzling fragile snowy beauty. And perfect harmony with the snow-white dress of the bride. By the way, according to one of the versions, white alloy was invented in order to shade diamonds more favorably.

White gold is perfect for wedding rings – it does not deform, does not lose its luster over the years and, thanks to alloying components, is resistant to damage. This alloy is also distinguished by a wide palette – the jewelry can be pure silver or have a yellowish, greenish, reddish or even bluish tone. If you are interested in the shades of gold, and you want to study this topic more thoroughly, we have prepared a separate material about it in our blog “What the color of gold depends on”.