White Gold Came into Frequent Use After WWI

While white gold remains desirable, it does cycle in and out of being really highly sought after and then later being admired but not being at the top of everyone's list. For example, white gold was very much in style during the Art Deco era. At this time, many brides wanted white gold to be used for their engagement rings.

People are once again recognizing the beauty and lasting value of white gold. In fact, some of Hollywood’s hottest stars like actresses Jennifer Aniston, Eva Longoria and Elizabeth Hurley have been known to own white gold jewelry. They certainly do not have to budget the way some of us do and yet they choose white gold.

White gold came into frequent use after the First World War. At this time people wanted the look of platinum, but because of the war, platinum was not exactly plentiful. Not only was platinum scarce and expensive, it was also more labor-intensive to make jewelry with platinum than it was to use other metals. We do not have any statistics on how the war effort effected jewelers, but we do know that many industries lost out on labor because of the war. Jewelers needed to use a metal that was sturdier that silver that was also affordable. People like the look of white metal jewelry, but did not necessarily want to use silver. White gold, made of an alloy of gold and other metals seemed like an ideal solution.

It is the addition of other metals that gives white gold its color. The mixture makes it so that gold does not appear so yellow. Some people go a step further because they really want something that looks like platinum--although the white gold means that the gold is already mixed with other metals, they have another coating added so the jewelry appears still lighter in color. One metal that can be used to achieve this effect is rhodium. This further lightening is not permanent, however. If you have your white gold jewelry coated with rhodium, you will have to have the coat reapplied every couple of years to maintain the lightening effect.

Of course if you are no longer interested in maintaining or keeping your gold jewelry, you can sell gold to a gold buyer. Since gold is more common, a metal refiner may be labeled as a gold buyer, but you can also sell platinum to a gold buyer.