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

What is white gold?

White gold is gold alloyed with white metals. GIA lists nickel or palladium as the whitening metal, with copper and zinc alongside. Pure gold is too soft for a ring worn every day, so every gold ring is an alloy. In white gold the metals added are the ones that take the yellow out.

The carat number gives the gold content, never the colour. 9ct white gold is 37.5% gold, the same as 9ct yellow. 18ct white is 75% gold, the same as 18ct yellow. Only the rest of the alloy differs.

The reference casting alloys our weight model uses are both whitened with palladium: Morris and Watson's 9ct white and 18ct white.

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

Is white gold real gold? What stamp does it have?

Yes. White gold is real gold and in Britain it is hallmarked exactly like yellow or rose 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. The UK gold standards are 375, 585, 750, 916, 990 and 999, so 9ct white gold is stamped 375 and 18ct white gold 750. Beside it sit the sponsor's mark and the mark of the assay office that tested the ring.

The rhodium on top does not change any of that. The government's hallmarking guidance allows hallmarked gold to be plated with rhodium, so a white gold ring stamped 750 holds exactly as much gold as a yellow one stamped 750.

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

Why is white gold plated with rhodium?

GIA gives three reasons: a whiter look, a better shine and some protection against scratching. Rhodium is a bright white precious metal. A thin coat of it gives white gold the cool, mirror white people picture when they think of a white wedding ring.

It is a thin layer. Where plating goes on after hallmarking, the UK guidance caps it at 2 micrometres on any part of the ring.

Does white gold turn yellow?

The gold does not. Its colour runs through the whole alloy and stays as it was made. What changes is the rhodium: GIA says it wears away gradually, so the ring needs replating now and then.

As the plating thins on the outer face, the softer white of the gold beneath starts to show, which is why an older white gold ring can look a little warm. Replating is a routine job for any jeweller and brings back the bright white in one visit. A ring worn every day and knocked about wears its plating sooner than one worn gently.

Is white gold good for a wedding ring?

Yes. It wears like the other golds of the same carat: fine marks with daily wear that polish out at any jeweller. A plain white gold band can be made larger or smaller by a jeweller, the way wedding rings have always been resized.

It is a little heavier than yellow gold. In the reference alloys, 9ct white is 12.6 grams per cubic centimetre against 11.4 for 9ct yellow. 18ct white is 16.4 against 15.7. A 6mm court band in UK size N comes to about 6.2g in 9ct white and 8.0g in 18ct white, against 5.6g and 7.7g in yellow.

Our white gold is set into a harder metal as a line or paired with yellow gold in a two tone band. On the inlay rings the white gold is 9ct, set flush into titanium or black zirconium, so the size follows 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.

Gold rings: Gold set into titanium and black zirconium, plus solid gold bands in 9ct and 18ct.

Silver or gold wedding ring?: Why gold wears better and the silver coloured metals that last.

White gold or platinum?

Platinum is naturally white, so it never needs replating. It is also much denser: the same 6mm band in size N weighs about 9.8g in platinum 950 against 8.0g in 18ct white gold. White gold gives you the white look in a lighter ring, with a coat of rhodium to keep fresh.

Skin is the other difference. GIA advises anyone allergic to nickel to avoid white gold alloyed with nickel. Platinum and titanium are free of that question. Our allergy guide goes through each metal.

Platinum or white gold?: Colour, weight, wear, skin and cost compared.

What 950 means on a ring: Platinum 950 explained: the naturally white metal set against white gold.

18ct gold vs platinum: Weight, wear and colour side by side.

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

Platinum rings: Titanium bands with solid platinum 950 lines set flush into the surface.