White gold
alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel, manganese or palladium
White gold is an alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel or palladium. Like yellow gold, the purity of white gold is given in carats (karats). It is often used in jewellery.
A common white gold formulation consists of 90% gold and 10% nickel by mass. Copper can be added to increase malleability.
White gold's properties vary depending on the metals and proportions used. As a result, white gold alloys can be used for different purposes; while a nickel alloy is hard and strong, and therefore good for rings and pins, gold-palladium alloys are soft, pliable and good for white gold gemstone settings. The highest-quality white gold is usually of at least 18 karat alloy and made up of gold and palladium, sometimes with other metals like copper, silver, and platinum for weight and durability, although this often requires specialized goldsmiths.
While some higher-quality white gold alloys retain their shine and lustre, most will be coated with a very thin layer of rhodium. This gives the naturally duller white gold a shine comparable to that of platinum or silver, although the rhodium may wear off over time.
The public source identifies “White gold” as alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel, manganese or palladium. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around White, gold and alloy.
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This entry incorporates text from “White gold” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.