What rose gold is and how it wears as a wedding ring

What is rose gold?

Rose gold is gold alloyed mainly with copper, usually with a little silver. GIA describes it as gold mixed with copper and silver, sometimes zinc. Pure gold is too soft for a ring worn every day, so every gold ring is an alloy. In rose gold the metal added to the gold is chosen for its colour.

The copper is what makes it pink. The more copper in the mix, the redder the gold. That is why the names overlap: pink gold has the least copper, rose gold more and red gold the most. A typical 18ct rose is 75% gold, about 22% copper and under 3% silver.

The carat number tells you the gold content, never the colour. 9ct rose gold is 37.5% gold, the same as 9ct yellow. 18ct rose is 75% gold, the same as 18ct yellow.

What is 9ct gold?: 37.5% gold, hallmarked 375: the gold in our rose gold inlay rings.

Is rose gold real gold?

Yes. Rose gold is real gold and in Britain it is hallmarked exactly like yellow or white gold. Anything sold as gold that weighs more than one gram has to carry a hallmark. A wedding ring is well over that weight.

The fineness mark is set by the gold content alone: 375 on 9ct rose gold and 750 on 18ct. Beside it sit the two other compulsory marks, the sponsor's mark and the mark of the assay office that tested the ring.

So a rose ring stamped 375 holds exactly as much gold as a yellow ring stamped 375. The hallmark decoder reads any mark inside a ring for you.

UK hallmarks explained: What each mark beside the 375 or 750 means and which assay office struck it.

Is rose gold good for a wedding ring?

Yes. Rose gold wears like the other golds of the same carat. It picks up fine marks with daily wear and those polish out at any jeweller. The colour runs through the whole metal, so it is not a coating and it cannot wear off.

It weighs the same as yellow gold too. In the reference casting alloys our weight model uses, 9ct rose and 9ct yellow are both 11.4 grams per cubic centimetre and 18ct red matches 18ct yellow at 15.7. A 6mm court band in UK size N comes to about 5.6g in 9ct and about 7.7g in 18ct.

The rose gold in our inlay rings is 9ct. There the gold is a line set flush into titanium or black zirconium. The harder 9ct alloy wears at something nearer the rate of the metal around it.

9ct gold ring weight: What a 9ct band weighs at every width from 2 to 10mm and every size from H to X.

Is rose gold good for sensitive skin?

For most people, yes. Rose gold is not whitened, so it has no need of the nickel GIA warns about in some white gold. Its colour comes from copper. GIA's one caution is copper itself: anyone allergic to copper should choose another gold colour.

On our inlay rings most of the band that touches the skin is titanium or black zirconium, both free of nickel. Our guide to metal allergies covers the metals that suit sensitive skin.

Metal allergies and hypoallergenic rings: Which ring metals suit sensitive skin and what to look for in a gold alloy.

What does rose gold go with?

Rose gold makes a bigger colour jump against cool metal than yellow gold does. Against brushed grey titanium it reads warm and soft. Against black zirconium it reads as a bright line of colour, which is why black and rose gold has become a pairing of its own.

It also mixes well with a partner's ring in another metal. A rose line in titanium beside a black and rose band shares the same gold, so the pair matches without the two rings being identical.

Each of our rose gold rings is made to order in your size. A plain titanium base can be made a little larger later; on a black zirconium base the size is settled when you order, which the free ring size finder makes a two minute job.

The surest test is your own skin: the free ring try-on draws any of our rose gold rings onto a photo of your hand.

Black and rose gold wedding rings: 9ct rose gold set into black zirconium in four layouts, made to order in your size.

Can you mix metals in wedding rings?: How different metals wear side by side and how mixed pairs are hallmarked.

Ring try-on: See rose gold against your own skin. Free.