 |
| Gorgeous 18kt rose gold tiger bracelet, with diamonds and ruby eyes. |
Rose gold is White Hot this season. Even though I have been using it for years now, suddenly it's everywhere. When my clients come into the store they all fall in love with my rose gold pieces, but they all have the same questions on their mind. What is it? How is it made? What exactly is Rose Gold?
 |
| Celestial bangles in yellow, white and rose gold. |
 |
| Another view of my celestial bangles, this time showing the fabulous baguette cut diamonds. |
This metal is actually quite beautiful, and even though it sounds very romantic, in reality there is no such thing as pure rose-colored gold, red gold or pink gold as it is also known. Pure gold (a noble metal) is always yellow, because it absorbs the violet and blue light and reflects yellow and red light. However, in its purest form, it is really too soft for use in practical applications, such as jewelry or gold coins, therefore it must be mixed with other metals for strength and durability.
 |
| One of my most popular sets: rose gold, tiger's eye and pink sapphires come together to bring you these amazing earrings and ring |
So how exactly do jewelers create colored gold? When they refer to colored gold, they are actually talking about colored alloys, which are added to the gold to make it stronger, for use in rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings and coins. Even the pure gold color that most people prefer, is really a combination of gold and other metals, usually copper and silver. These are used most often because there is a metallurgical affinity existing within these metals. More interesting to me and my clients, is that they blend well and form jewelry that will withstand the test of time.
 |
| Rose gold "Fleur" earrings, with onyx and diamonds |
Yellow gold old is known as Au, for the Latin aurum, and when mixed with copper, produces a metal with a reddish color. Adding a very small amount of copper will give you a pink, or rose colored gold. A larger amount of copper will produce a slightly deeper shade of red. In the past, goldsmiths often used more copper than silver in the mixture, copper being much less expensive than silver and producing a more reddish color. It is a simple matter of adjusting the proportions of the gold, silver and copper and you will get everything from a very pale yellow to a deep red, or a deep gold.
 |
| From my Fall 2012 collection, three gold colors: white, rose and of course yellow gold earrings (only one is shown) sprinkled with white, shiny diamonds |
Through the years, jewelers have discovered that by adding iron (a heavy metal) to the gold, they can produce a blue color. Substituting aluminum (a poor metal) will give a purple tint to the gold, and the addition of platinum (a transition metal) gives us the white gold color that is also very popular in jewelry. The white gold can also be made by adding nickel, zinc and palladium. They can even produce a black gold simply by adding natural bismuth (a poor metal) along with a silver alloy to the gold. By leaving the copper out of the alloy mixture, and having only the gold and silver, it will produce a kind of greenish yellow color. Jewelers have discovered that the green gold is still rather soft for their purposes, but can be used for decoration on hand-made pieces of jewelry.
 |
| Phenomenal statement ring in rose and yellow gold, with white diamond pavee. |
While all gold is yellow, a little mix of gold with a variety of other metals, will produce beautiful hues, including the coveted rose gold, adding to the beauty, strength and durability of the your jewelry. So, in conclusion, rose gold might not be pure gold, but it is beautiful and it is durable. As you can by all the pictures above, rose gold makes for a perfect choice for all kinds of pieces. Especially those which I have designed with a specific contrast in mind.
Love Always
Dani K
Love Always
Dani K
CONVERSATION