White Gold Jewelry

White Gold Jewelry Pure gold is a rich, yellow color but when combined with certain metal alloys, it blushes a range of colors, from white to red to green. White gold is the product of pure gold combined with a white metal, usually nickel or palladium.

White gold jewelry is ideal for jewelry lovers who prefer the look of white metal but don't want to sacrifice the properties that drew them to gold in the first place.

Like gold jewelry of any color, white gold jewelry is sold according to its karatage, or the percentage of pure gold it contains. Twenty-four karat gold is pure, but it is also soft and therefore not ideal for jewelry purposes. In addition to changing its color, alloys can make the gold stronger. Therefore, white gold jewelry is sold in 22-, 18-, 14- and 10-karat varieties; the higher the karat quality, the greater proportion of gold it will contain. (In Europe, karat qualities are expressed as percentages: 750 is 18-karat gold, meaning it is 75 percent pure, and 585 is 14-karat gold, meaning it is 58.5 percent pure).

When nickel is the alloy in white gold jewelry, the item is generally hard and strong, and therefore ideal for rings and pins, while gold-palladium alloys are soft, pliable and best suited for white gold gemstone settings.

Palladium and nickel tend to give gold a brown tint that requires a thin layer of rhodium to maintain its white color, which is why virtually all white gold jewelry, including the wide selection of pieces available n Jewelry.com, is plated with rhodium.

Learn About White Gold Jewelry

Jewelry.com: More Than Just Gold

From gold bullion to the history of gold to gold on the runways - find out why gold is timeless, even when it masquerades as white gold jewelry.

Jewelry.com: Break From the Chains That Bind You!

Looking for a white gold jewelry trend that has staying power? Gold chains are wrapping their way around the necks and wrists of the trendy and talented. Jewelry.com takes a look at this summer's craze of layer upon layer of gorgeous gold.

All About Gold

Jewelry.com's primer on gold is a must-have resource for anyone on the hunt for the ideal piece of white gold jewelry.

Jewelry.com, Jewels As Far As The Eyes Can See

At the spring jewelry fair in Basel, Switzerland, black and white was all the rage, meaning white gold jewelry set with black gems is a sure bet for fall/winter 2009.