White and gray gold compared to silver

We recently decided to offer jewelry with precious stones and fine stones. The current fashion is to mount precious stones on white gold jewelery (also called white gold) in order to bring out the colors of the stones better.

However, to the naked eye, it is extremely difficult to distinguish white gold from silver. This is why jewelers can offer silver and gemstone jewelry much cheaper than commercial white gold jewelry in France.

We set out to find out what the differences are between white gold and silver, and how to differentiate the gold alloy from the natural metal silver (aside from the price difference in stores).

White or grey, two terms for the same league

Gold Title Legislation

The designation of gold as white or gray is not regulated by the administration. Jewelers name the different gold alloys with metals as they wish, giving them this color so distinct from yellow gold.

What matters for the customs or tax administration is the accuracy of the declared quality of the precious metals, therefore the hallmark which indicates the quantity of pure gold present in the jewel.

Gold legally exists in the qualities of 24 carats (999 thousandths), 22 carats, 18, 14 and 9 carats (375 thousandths). An alloy containing less than 375 thousandths of gold is prohibited from being sold as gold.

To find out more, please consult this page on taxes on gold securities.

The different leagues

In its natural state white gold is called electrum, it is an alloy of gold and silver. It was used by Mesoamerican civilizations for jewelry and religious artifacts, as it occurs naturally in some gold mines.

Today there are several possible alloys to produce white gold: silver or palladium are often used.

You will find more details on the composition of white gold by consulting this article: Color of Gold and its Alloys. Only the hallmark will allow you to know the gold grade of the white gold jewelery you wish to purchase.

Therefore, the only ways to test white gold alloy are to request a composition analysis from a laboratory or to test it using the touchau method detailed in this previous article: How to recognize gold and know its fineness.

A weight difference

If the visual appearance won’t help you recognize gold, its weight will certainly help you. Gold, in fact, is much heavier than silver, with a density of 19.3 versus 10.5 for silver, which is almost double.

So if you are comparing 14 or 18 karat white gold jewelry, you can differentiate the gold based on the weight of the jewelry.

The benefit of the money: the price, much cheaper!

(925 Silver Ring VivaLatina Collection)

White gold is very easily equated with silver (if we exclude weight). This allows you to consider producing jewelry that is visually identical to white gold jewelry with gemstones at more affordable prices. Furthermore, since silver is less heavy, the jeweler can be more generous in the amount of material contained in the jewelry.

Soon you will be able to observe it in our next creations of silver rings with sapphires.

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