Whats the difference between white gold and gold?
- Posted:
- 3+ months ago by strawboss16
- Topics:
- white, gold
Answers (2)
White gold is a mix of gold and white metals (like nickel or silver). This turns it a dull grey colour so it's then covered in rhodium to make it silvery and shiny. I've never understood why, with something as rare as gold, we'd make it an ugly colour and then hide it away inside another metal. We should use all the gold as actual gold and make white gold rings out of pure rhodium.
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.