Yellow, white and rose gold are the three colours gold comes in, and the difference between them is not the amount of gold but the metals it is mixed with. This guide explains where each colour comes from, and how to find the one that suits you, including a simple way to read your own skin tone.
The colour of gold comes from the metals it is mixed with, not the amount of gold, so at the same karat, yellow, white and rose gold all hold the same amount of pure gold. Yellow is mixed with copper and silver, rose takes more copper for its pink tone, and white uses pale metals finished with a bright rhodium plating. Choosing between them is mostly taste, with a light nod to skin tone.
What gives gold its colour?
Pure gold is always yellow, and it is soft, so all jewellery gold is mixed with other metals for strength. Those added metals are also what set the colour. Because the colour comes from the alloy and not from the gold itself, the amount of gold does not change with the colour: at the same karat, an 18K yellow, an 18K white and an 18K rose all contain exactly the same 75 percent pure gold, just blended with different metals. So white gold is not less gold than yellow, and rose gold is not more, a common thing to wonder. The gold content is set by the karat, and the colour is set by the mix.
Yellow gold
Yellow gold is the classic, closest to gold's natural colour, made by mixing pure gold with copper and silver. It is warm, timeless and the traditional choice for fine jewellery, and it has a practical advantage too: because its colour is the natural colour of the gold running right through it, it never needs any surface treatment to stay yellow. It simply holds its warmth for life. A higher karat yellow gold, like 18K, has a deeper, richer tone than a lower karat, since it holds more pure gold.
White gold
White gold is made by mixing pure gold with pale metals such as palladium, silver and zinc, which lightens the natural yellow to a soft, greyish white. To give it the bright, silvery white most people picture, it is then plated with a thin layer of rhodium, a brilliant white metal from the platinum family. It is cool and contemporary, and it flatters cooler skin tones and pairs beautifully with white diamonds. The one thing to know is that the rhodium finish gently wears with time and is refreshed by occasional replating, which our guide to white gold and rhodium plating explains in full. The gold underneath is solid and permanent, only the surface tone is renewed.
Rose gold
Rose gold gets its warm pink blush from a higher proportion of copper in the mix. That extra copper does two things: it gives the romantic rosy colour, and it makes rose gold a fraction harder and more hard-wearing than yellow or white of the same karat. Like yellow gold, its colour runs right through the metal, so it needs no plating to keep its tone. Rose gold is often called the universal flatterer, because its soft warmth brings a glow to pale skin and looks striking against deeper skin tones.
| Colour | The mix, and character |
|---|---|
| Yellow | Gold with copper and silver. Warm and classic, holds its colour with no plating. |
| White | Gold with pale metals, finished with rhodium. Cool and modern, refreshed occasionally. |
| Rose | Gold with more copper. Warm pink, a touch harder, needs no plating. |
Which gold colour suits you?
The honest first answer is that you should wear the colour you love, because all three are beautiful and the differences are gentle. If you would like a little guidance, though, skin tone is the useful thing to consider, and it comes down to your undertone, the subtle warmth or coolness beneath the surface of your skin, rather than how fair or deep it is.
Here is a simple way to read your undertone. Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist in natural light. If they look greenish, you most likely have warm undertones. If they look blue or purple, you most likely have cool undertones. If you cannot quite tell, or see a mix, you are probably neutral. Two more quick checks: warm skin tends to tan more easily and suit gold, while cool skin tends to burn and suit silver tones, and if a piece of gold jewellery you already own always looks especially good on you, that is a strong hint in itself.
From there the pairing is easy. Warm undertones are flattered by yellow and rose gold, whose warmth echoes the skin. Cool undertones are set off beautifully by the crisp white of white gold. Neutral undertones have the luxury of suiting any of the three. And rose gold, as mentioned, tends to flatter almost everyone. None of this is a rule, only a nudge, and mixing gold colours across a few pieces looks deliberate and modern rather than mismatched.
Choose the colour you are drawn to first. If you want a guide, check your wrist veins: greenish suggests warm undertones, which suit yellow and rose gold, while blue suggests cool undertones, which suit white gold. Neutral undertones suit all three, and rose gold flatters almost everyone. Remember that at the same karat every colour holds the same amount of gold, so this really is a choice about colour, not quality.
Whichever colour you choose, it is solid gold, and it sits within our wider guide to gold. You will find yellow, white and rose across our earrings, rings and necklaces and pendants.
