Understanding The Different Types of Gold

Aug 26,2021 | Joycenamenecklace

Before explaining the types of gold, we’d introduced the concept of Karat at first . The karat (US spelling, symbol K or kt) or carat (UK spelling, symbol C or ct) is a fractional measure of purity for diamond or precious metal like gold. When the karat is used to measure gold, it represents how much pure gold element containing in. In this concept, the whole metal is divided into 24 parts and 24K refers to the purest gold. For example, 18K gold jewelry represents that the 18/24 , or 3/4 of its raw materials consists of gold, while the rest are the base metal.

Base metal plays an very important role in changing the color, durability and solidity of gold. Also, another obvious benefit is that the gold become more affordable. According to this finding, metalsmiths developed different types of gold.

Based on different color, the gold is classified into yellow gold, rose gold, white gold, green gold, blue gold and even black gold.

Yellow gold

When we talk of the gold, the first thing that comes to our mind is usually glorious yellow tone because 24K gold shows in this color. However, not all the yellow tone gold are the pure gold. Other golden alloy mixed with metals such as silver, zinc and copper could represent yellow tone as well. For example, 18K yellow gold normally consists of 75% gold, 12.5% copper, 12.5% silver. Or, in order to make it look darker, copper content would be increased to 15%.

It should be noticed that the copper-based alloy would also come with golden color and luster, such as brass and bronze. Brass is a bright yellow consisted of 67% of copper and 33% of zinc. If the content of zinc drop, it would turn to be reddish. There are more than 60 types of brass on the record of European Norm Standards. Brass is a thrifty, attractive metal with a golden tone and it is malleable and easy to manipulate so it can be fabricated or cast. As for Bronze, it consists of 12% tin (or other metals) and 88% copper, having a warm, brown tone.

White Gold

White gold is the alloy consist of gold and other metal like nickel, silver or palladium. The common composition of 18K white gold is 75% pure gold and 25% silver and nickle. Compared to silver or nickle, palladium is a expensive precious metal so it is widely used in white-gold making.

People would get confused when they have to choose jewelry from silver, white gold and platinum because they all look like silver-tone. Well, the biggest difference is the price. There is no doubt that the white gold is expensive than the silver, whist it is far more lower-cost than platinum. Considering durability and rigidity, platinum plays better than white gold, while white gold is better than silver.

Rose gold

Rose gold, also known as pink gold or red gold, is a result of alloying pure gold with copper, as copper has a red tinge to it. The shade of rose gold can also vary greatly, depending on the proportion of copper blended with the gold. The greater the content of copper, the redder the final colour is. A common combination in jewelry for rose gold is 75% gold mixed with 25% copper.

A key point to keep in mind with white and rose gold is that since gold must be combined with other metals to transform the colour, it is impossible to achieve “pure” (or 100% / 24k) white or rose Gold.

Green Gold

According to the research, green gold is originated from Crete Island and started to be used in 860 BC. It is a naturally-born alloy made up with gold, silver. Silver endows the green tone with the extremely light green tone. In most of the case, you’d hardly notice the green-tone hiding in the gold without being told what it was, because the natural green gold shows in greenish-yellow instead of pure green. In order to enhance the green tone, people added cadmium into the composition, while this kind of green gold is not accepted in the daily use but just for appreciation as the cadmium is highly toxic.

Light Green Gold (18K)	Gold 75% Copper 23% Cadmium 2%
Deep Green Gold (18K)	Gold 75% Silver 15% Copper 6% Cadmium 4%

Black Gold

Black gold is an another uncommon type of gold in daily life. There are five ways of endowing the gold with black tone.

Oxidation - Metalsmiths would use a special acids on the gold surface to create a darkening look.
Blackening - The surface of gold would be painted with a paint-like liquid. Then the liquid would gradually slip into the nooks and crannies.
Black enamel-Enamel is baked onto the surface of jewelry, much like similar liquids are applied to ceramic pieces. The result is a hard, smooth and shiny covering.
Black Rhodium Plating- It is the rather common method used for black gold, where the surface of gold is plated with a black finish, normally with black rhodium or ruthenium. However, the obvious disadvantage is that the color wears off over time.
Gold &Cobalt Alloy - Mixed with another metal such as cobalt, usually to the ratio of 3 parts gold to 1 part metal, black-tone could appear on the gold.

Blue Gold

No doubt that it is a brand-new type of gold. To make a slight bluish-tone gold, gallium or indium would be added into the compound. As for rich bluish-tone gold, it could be made by alloying with ruthenium and rhodium.