White Gold Plated Sterling Silver

Rhodium is plated on sterling silver using an electroplating process.

White gold plated sterling silver.

Well gold plated jewelry is not made of gold actually. Unlike white gold it is not necessary to plate sterling silver to gain a white color as white is silver s natural hue. For example a copper or silver ring with a layer of gold on top would be sold as gold plated. White gold is created by combining pure gold and a white metal such as nickel or palladium which gives the unique shiny white look to the regular gold.

As mentioned above by mixing these metals stronger more durable metals are created which can be used in jewelry. Sterling silver is the most affordable white metal on the market today. Sterling silver is more prone to tarnish and corrosion because it reacts with oxygen in the air because of its copper content thus requiring more cleaning. Pure gold comes with a fancier price tag as well as the nickel alloy.

What s white gold made of. Sterling silver the most obvious difference between sterling silver and white gold is the fact they are made from two different precious metals. It s usually stamped 925 which means 92 5 pure silver and 7 5 other metals. This is the case because white gold is made up of up to 75 pure gold.

Regarding white gold nickel is generally used as the alloy but often white gold is plated with rhodium a silvery white metal in the platinum family. Gold plated jewelry costs less than a solid gold piece. Perhaps you have heard of white gold which is an alloy of yellow gold and a white metal for example palladium. The sterling silver ring is much more affordable than the white gold ring even though they look very similar.

Typically white gold is more valuable than sterling silver. As mentioned above sterling silver is 92 5 pure silver alloyed with copper but in some cases nickel may be present in the other 7 5 of metals. White gold is resistant to corrosion because it is commonly rhodium plated. The base metal in that situation is usually a copper or silver which are much more affordable than any gold alloys.

Vermeil is a specific kind of gold plating the process of creating a vermeil piece of jewelry involves coating sterling silver with a thin layer of gold that is at least 10 karats and 2 5 microns thick to be legally called vermeil the item must have a gold thickness of 2 5 microns and the coating must be over a sterling silver base. However gold plated jewelry is made by using electricity or chemicals to deposit a very thin layer of gold over that other base metal. Sterling silver is the highest grade of silver that can have any practical use and is usually 92 5 percent silver and 7 5 percent copper. Sterling silver is the least expensive of the white metals.

Silver durability pure silver and pure gold are soft metals that are not recommended for use in jewelry.