White Gold Engagement Rings: Affordable Beauty

For the last century, the cool beauty of white metal has been incredibly popular. It sparkles like ice in the sun and compliments the diamond or precious stone beautifully. And while many believe that to have a white metal for their engagement ring, they have to have platinum, and the high price that goes with platinum, it is not so. There is another white metal that is much kinder on a budget, with nearly all of the benefits of platinum.

White gold has been a popular alternative to platinum for ages. White gold is not actually found in nature. Natural gold is yellow. To get the cool white beauty, yellow gold is alloyed, or mixed, with other white metals, such as palladium, silver, or nickel. But because of the high percentage of people allergic to nickel, jewellers have stopped using it as an alloy for jewellery, at least for the most part. Another benefit to the alloy is that it makes the gold hard and durable. Because natural gold is soft and pliable, it would scratch easily and be susceptible to dents. The alloy also strengthens and hardens the gold so that it is strong enough for every day use. Another addition to white gold engagement rings is a coating that gives the white metal a beautiful sheen and makes it even stronger.

White gold is nearly ten times less expensive than platinum. That is because gold, while rare and precious, is not as rare and precious as platinum. White gold engagement rings also require upkeep that platinum rings do not. The metal coating on white gold wears over time, and has to be replaced. The procedure is quick and relatively inexpensive and gives white gold an even brighter sheen than platinum. And while platinum is very hard and scratch resistant, even with its special coating white gold is not as tough as platinum.

White gold engagement rings are very popular, and for very good reason. Although they do not have all the benefits of platinum engagement rings, they also have a much more reasonable price, and they sparkle even more in the sun than a platinum ring does.