Precious Metals
Gold
What the karat number actually measures, where yellow, white and rose get their color, how to read a hallmark, and which gold holds up best to daily wear.
Gold has been the default metal for jewelry for about six thousand years, for a simple reason: it does not rust, tarnish, or corrode. A gold ring buried for a millennium comes out of the ground looking much as it went in.
Pure gold, though, is far too soft to wear. Left unalloyed it would bend out of round within weeks. Every practical decision you make about gold jewelry, karat, color, price, how it ages, comes back to what else is mixed into it.
What a karat actually measures
Karat (K) is a measure of purity out of 24, not of quality. 24K is pure gold; 18K is 18 parts gold to 6 parts other metals. A higher karat means more gold, a richer color, a higher price, and a softer ring.
| Gold | Purity | Hallmark | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10K | 41.7% | 417 | Budget and durability first; the palest of the yellows |
| 14K | 58.3% | 585 | The everyday default, balancing color, durability, and price |
| 18K | 75% | 750 | The richest color, at a premium and in a softer alloy |
| 24K | 99.9% | 999 | Investment bullion; too soft for a ring you wear |
The stamp inside a band records purity in parts per thousand: 585 is 14K, 750 is 18K. If a piece carries no hallmark at all, treat that as a question worth asking rather than a dealbreaker, some older and handmade pieces were never stamped.
Where the colors come from
All gold starts out yellow. The color of a finished piece comes from what it is alloyed with, which means two rings of the same karat can look noticeably different.
Yellow gold
Alloyed mainly with copper and silver, which keeps gold’s natural warmth. It is the lowest-maintenance of the three: nothing is plated, so nothing wears off, and fine scratches blend into a soft sheen rather than standing out.
White gold
Yellow gold alloyed with white metals such as palladium, nickel, or silver. On its own the result is a pale grey, so nearly all white gold is finished with a micron-thin layer of rhodium for brightness. That plating is a wearing surface: expect to have it renewed every few years, more often on a ring than on a pendant.
Rose gold
The pink hue comes from a higher proportion of copper in the alloy, and copper is harder than gold, so rose gold is typically the most wear-resistant of the three at the same karat. It is never plated, so the color goes all the way through and never needs restoring.
How gold behaves over a lifetime
- It does not tarnish. Gold does not oxidize. A dull gold ring is dirty, not damaged, and a few minutes in warm soapy water usually settles it, see our jewelry cleaning guide.
- It wears thin rather than breaking. Decades of contact slowly remove metal from the underside of a band. A jeweler can add metal back, which is why a well-made gold ring can be kept going more or less indefinitely.
- It is straightforward to resize. Plain gold bands resize readily. Eternity bands set all the way around are the usual exception.
- It is infinitely recyclable. Gold loses nothing in refining, so recycled gold is chemically identical to newly mined. Our pieces are made with 100% recycled precious metals.
Choosing your gold
Match an engagement ring
If there is already a ring on the finger, its color is the fixed point. Match it unless you are mixing tones deliberately.
Consider your skin tone
Warm complexions tend to suit yellow and rose; cooler ones often favor white. Try all three before deciding, photographs mislead.
Think about upkeep
White gold needs periodic replating. Yellow and rose need none. Over thirty years that difference adds up.
Weigh your work
Hands-on trades favor 14K or 10K and a lower profile. Desk work can carry 18K and a more delicate design comfortably.
Comparing gold against the white metals? Our gold vs. platinum comparison covers color, weight, durability, maintenance, and price side by side. For the full ring decision, start with the wedding ring buying guide.
See gold on the hand
Our bands are made to order in 10K, 14K and 18K yellow, white and rose gold, in New York City’s Diamond District.