There is a popular misconception that platinum and white gold are both lustrous cold white metals. Wedding bands made from either of these metals do look white and do look great. Which is best? Let's look at each one.
White gold - one of the most popular metals around these days when it comes to jewelry. Sorry to burst any balloons, but white gold is not a pure gold. Gold, in its purest form, is yellow and very soft - too soft to use in most jewelry pieces.
Pure gold is mixed with other metals to form a harder alloy that is then suitable for jewelry making. Pure gold is described as being 24 carat. The more common alloys used in jewelry are 9 carat, 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat. When white gold is described as being 18 carat, it has 75% pure gold content.
A white gold alloy could contain quantities of silver, palladium, zinc, copper or nickel. It is the alloy created with nickel, zinc or palladium that produces white gold. It is the blending of silver or palladium which effectively bleaches the yellow gold to form white gold. Different combinations have a differing bleaching affect so not all white golds look the same.
White gold that is rated as 18 carat will have a yellow gold content of 75% with the remaining 25% any combination of metals - the more palladium the harder the finished alloy is. The resulting white gold looks very much like platinum, is long wearing like platinum, yet much cheaper than platinum. Cheaper versions of white gold are being produced these days and they range in color from dull grey through to a sickly yellow.
Platinum: this metal is much rarer than gold so it is far more expensive. Platinum is much harder than pure gold and often needs to be alloyed to soften it a little for jewelry making purposes. Platinum is actually a light grey color, not white and can be graded according to purity like most other metals.
Platinum and white gold are both normally plated with rhodium to give them that famous white finish. Rhodium plating is not permanent and will wear away over time. As the rhodium plating wears away the brilliant white finish that platinum and white gold are famous for will be replaced by a dull light grey appearance. Platinum jewelry will turn light grey over time as the rhodium plating wears away.
While platinum is far more expensive than white gold, they will both look like cheap metals once the rhodium plating wears off. Of course, you can recover that brilliant white finish by having your jewelry, platinum or white gold, re-plated with rhodium. Which is best? It is in the eye of the beholder. White gold was created to imitate platinum. It has however developed it's own following. For those looking for a platinum substitute, be careful since white gold is almost as expensive as platinum now. If you are really after that brilliant platinum finish then buy platinum.
For those wanting white gold, be sure to buy white gold that is good quality, not created from a cheap alloy blend. I like white gold, not because it looks like platinum, but because it looks like white gold.
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