In a previous blog post, we discussed the how the purity of gold is measured in karats. The higher the karat level, the more gold is in the item. Since gold is such a soft and precious metal, most jewelry is not 24kt, or pure gold. By lowering the karat level, the creative jeweler or goldsmith gets to make a veritable rainbow of new colors when other metals are melted with the gold to forge the final piece of jewelry.
• Rose Gold – this alloy is also known as pink gold or red gold, depending on the hue. It can compliment a wide variety of skin tones, making it popular in ring making. Its pinkish color is made by adding copper to the gold.
• White Gold – this colored gold is a popular choice for wedding bands or engagement rings. The white color used to be achieved by mixing nickel with the gold. However, this has fallen out of practice because nickel is known to cause skin rashes on some people. Most modern white gold jewelry is made by combining gold with palladium and a coating of rhodium. The rhodium coating protects the ring and enhances its white color. Most people aren’t aware, but white gold rings (that are worn often) should be re-plated with new rhodium every few years or so to keep the ring in its best condition.
• Green Gold – this is usually a pale green colored alloy made by mixing silver and gold together. The green color can be darkened by adding a small amount of cadmium, but this is not widely done because of cadmium’s toxic properties.
• Black Gold – coloring gold gets a bit trickier when it comes to black gold. Not only must the gold be mixed with cobalt or chromium, but it also must be heat-treated to obtain its black hue.
• Violet Gold – this is also known as purple or amethyst gold. Gold becomes purple tinted when mixed with aluminum, along with another curious side effect. Violet gold is actually quite brittle and can shatter. Because of this, it usually works as a “gemstone” or facet on a piece of jewelry, rather than composing the entire piece.
When we receive these types of gold at Manhattan Gold & Silver, the gold is melted as usual. Here at Manhattan Gold we are a B2B precious metals firm.