White gold is the alloy of pure gold and white metals like silver, nickel or palladium. Mostly grayish in color, it is plated with rhodium to get a whiter, shinier glistening look. During the 1920s it was often used as an alternative to platinum. Usually of 9, 14 or 18 carats, it is also available in other grades.

White metals like palladium, platinum, nickel, silver, zinc, etc. form a white colored alloy when alloyed with gold. While palladium, platinum & nickel have a strong white look, silver and zinc are rather mild. Amongst the categories of white gold, nickel and palladium stand out as the most popular in use today.

White Gold

Since nickel causes allergies in approximately 20% of users, especially women, jewellers mark their preference for silver and palladium.

Palladium while more expensive than nickel is denser and requires a higher gold content. Some grades also contain nickel.

Other new alloys introduced lately use manganese as a whitening agent. Chromium and iron are complicated to process and are thus shunned. Most alternates to nickel and palladium need to be plated with rhodium, as the whiteness is of an inferior shade. All white gold varieties are coated with rhodium which adds that platinum like sheen to the article. Many different colors can be obtained by mixing various metals with gold. White gold is one such example.