Northwest Jewelry

Originally posted 2-19-07 and now moved here.

White or Yellow Gold????

Gold trends are like any other–they’re cyclical. My first ring was a birthstone ring when I was 16–it had an oval simulated ruby (at least I’m assuming it was simulated–my parents didn’t have a lot of money and it was a good-sized ruby) in yellow 14K gold. I didn’t know much about jewelry then, but I remember everyone I knew who wore jewelry wore either yellow gold or silver.

When I got married at 19, my wedding set was white gold–a plain wedding ring and an engagement ring with a diamond solitaire. I remember that even then, the white gold was not common, which was one of the reasons I chose it.

At that point, both white and yellow gold were fairly popular, with yellow gold always edging out white gold, until a few years ago, when white gold became very popular. It remains so today, and what I’ve found is that the 20-35 age group much prefer white gold and won’t even wear yellow gold, while the 35-60 age group mostly prefers yellow gold, although many of them wear both.

I’m in the 35-60 age group and I wear both. I have two wedding rings–one in 18K yellow gold and one in platinum, which isn’t white gold, but is silver colored! I have a stainless steel watch I wear with my platinum ring and an 18K yellow gold watch I wear with my yellow gold wedding ring. On my right hand and wrist, I wear whichever color I want, but I make sure they match, i.e. a yellow gold ring and bracelet or a white gold ring and bracelet.

Some gemstones look better in one color than another. For example, the Oregon sunstone, with its copper schiller, looks better in yellow gold than in white gold, as the yellow gold picks up the warm colors of the copper.

The bottom line is, these days, you can wear either yellow or white gold, because both are in style. This gives every woman twice as much flexibility in her jewelry ensembles–enjoy! 

You can find all of these styles and more at Northwest Jewelry!