5 minute read
Should a wedding ring be silver or gold?
Gold, if the ring will be worn every day: sterling silver is the softest of the precious metals and tarnishes, which is why it is rarely used for wedding rings. If you want the silver colour, white gold, platinum and titanium all give it in a metal that wears better.
Is silver or gold better for a wedding ring?
Gold, for a ring you will wear every day for years. GIA notes that sterling silver is popular for jewellery but rarely used for engagement rings or wedding bands: it is soft, it scratches and it tarnishes. On the Mohs scale sterling sits at about 2.75 against about 3.5 for 9ct gold. The difference shows on a ring that meets door handles, keys and steering wheels every day.
Silver is the right choice when the budget is the deciding factor or the ring is a stand in. It costs far less, it is hallmarked like gold and it can be resized and polished by any jeweller. Just expect to polish it.
Will a ring turn your finger green?: Which metals mark skin and which never will.
Sterling silver: How it wears, resizing and care.
What is 9ct gold?: What the 375 hallmark means and how 9ct wears.
Does a silver wedding ring tarnish?
Yes. Sterling silver darkens over time as it reacts with traces of sulphur in the air. GIA notes the tarnish comes off with silver polish or a polishing cloth. It is a five minute job, but it is a job a gold, platinum or titanium ring never asks of you.
Gold resists corrosion and its colour runs right through the metal. Titanium does not tarnish. Platinum stays white all the way through.
What if you want the silver colour?
Choose a metal that is silver in colour rather than silver itself. White gold is gold alloyed to a pale colour and usually plated with rhodium for a bright white; GIA notes the plating wears away gradually and is renewed occasionally. Platinum is white all the way through and needs no plating, at a higher price.
Titanium gives a silver grey colour for less than either, at under a third of the weight of 18ct gold. It does not tarnish. Many couples choose a titanium band for one of them and gold for the other, or a two tone gold ring that carries both colours.
What is white gold?: Rhodium plating, the 375 and 750 stamps and how it wears.
Titanium rings: Silver grey bands that do not tarnish.
Silver or titanium: Wear, weight and price side by side.
Do wedding rings have to be gold?
No. There is no legal rule in the UK about what a wedding ring is made of. Gold is the tradition because it lasts and keeps its colour, but titanium, black zirconium, platinum and wood rings are all worn as wedding rings. A couple need not wear the same metal either.
What the law does govern is the word. A ring sold in the UK as gold, silver or platinum above a small weight must carry a hallmark proving the precious metal content, so the stamp inside tells you what you have.
Do wedding rings have to match?: How couples pair different metals and widths.
UK hallmarking explained: What a hallmark proves and how to read one.
How do silver and gold compare on price?
Silver is by a distance the least expensive precious metal. 9ct gold costs far more for the same ring and 18ct more again. A heavier, wider band widens the gap, because the price follows the weight of metal.
If gold is out of reach, titanium is the better value step down than silver for a ring worn daily: it costs less than gold and wears far better than silver, though it is not a precious metal and carries no hallmark.
The cheapest metal for a wedding ring: The lowest priced ring in each metal, in price order.
Ring weight calculator: Grams of metal by width and size in each metal.
How much to spend on a wedding ring: What rings cost in each metal and where the money goes.
Mentioned: 9ct gold, titanium, sterling silver.
