Gold is one of those materials that is incredibly versatile. It's also cost efficient,  looks attractive, and may just be the metal you are looking for when it comes to gold jewelry for your wedding rings. There are different types of gold jewelry, which is why it's  important to know characteristics of each type, including what it looks like, what it's made from, and how popular it is.

What Is Her Style?

When buying a wedding  ring it's always important to make sure you get a ring that she will like, since she will be wearing it for many decades to come.  This is why you will need to take the time to think about her personal  style.

- If she likes cooler hues or silver toned jewelry, she will probably like white gold.

- If she prefers warmer hues, yellow or rose gold will be just what she's looking for.

Pure gold is one of those materials that is simply too soft to be used on its own  for gold jewelry.  Because of this, it's often mixed with harder materials , such as a metal allot to make it stronger. You can find 22k gold, but the most common type of gold is 18k, 14k, and 10k gold jewelry. 18K is made up of 75% gold, 14K is made up of 58% gold and 10K is made up of approximately 42% gold. The rest of the percentage is made up of other metals like silver or zinc. Usually when speaking about gold jewelry, you can find it in the following colors or types:

Yellow Gold

When people think of traditional yet classic gold jewelry yellow gold is the gold they think of the most. It has a warm patina that is formed by the red in copper, as well as the greenish hue of silver. This type of gold used to be the most popular type of gold jewelry, but over the years it's been replaced by the popularity of white gold.

White Gold

White gold has a more contemporary look than yellow gold. It has an almost silvery white look, due to the combination of yellow gold, nickel, zinc and copper. These types of rings are plated with a material called Rhodium. Rhodium costs 4 times the amount of platinum and also gives these rings the trait of being scratch resistant, tarnish resistant, and  gives the rings a reflective mirror-like appearance. Over time, the reflective finish may begin to wear away and require re-plating.

Rose Gold

Rose gold has a warmish pink hue which is created when you combine yellow gold with copper alloy. The percentages of other metal alloys used in rose gold is the same as white gold or yellow gold,  only it's used in a different mixture. Rose gold also has a copper look, due to the  pink hues. While white and yellow gold are used the most, rose gold is by far the most unique.

Green Gold

Green gold is  the least used metal when it comes to jewelry, but  has an unusual soft pale green look.  The pale green is created when you mix together yellow gold, zinc, copper, and silver. While almost no one uses green gold for an entire ring, they do often use these for accent colors. For example, green gold with rose and white gold can create a really interesting and unique tri-color look.

If you are interested in purchasing gold jewelry or you have more questions about this type of beautiful material, visit Ralph Mueller & Associates or call 480.949.9229