“Is white gold more valuable than yellow gold?” is a question we get asked very often by many of our clients.

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 jewellery, 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. When white gold rings are new they can be coated with another white metal called Rhodium.

The gold content of yellow gold is measured in the same way it is measured in for example white gold. So an 18ct white gold ring contains 75% pure gold, just as 18ct yellow gold contains 75% pure gold.

Yes, there is a difference between yellow gold and white gold, but at the end of the day, no matter what colour the gold is, the value is determined by the gold purity (9ct / 18ct) and not by the colour.

Jewelry is normally stamped with a marking to show the type of gold.

• For 9ct gold the stamp will normally be either the number 375, 9ct, 9kt or 9K.
• For 14ct gold the stamp will normally be either the number 585, 14ct, 14kt or 14K.
• For 18ct gold the stamp will normally be either the number 750, 18ct, 18kt or 18K.