Rose Gold – What Is It & Why It’s So Hot?

You probably came here looking to find out more about Rose Gold. It may well be the case that you liked a jewellery somewhere and then you read that it was made of rose gold. That left you wondering and now you want to know what it is. Or, probably you are a jewellery enthusiast who likes to learn about different types of gold & you wanted to learn about the fascinating rose gold. Or, probably numerous other reasons why are you here. Regardless of those reasons, let me tell you that, you have come to the right place. In this material, we will give you the most detailed and most accurate account of what rose gold is and everything that you should know about it. With our years of experience in jewellery, we will give you the best and the most accurate answers in a structured format. Let’s start.

What is Rose Gold?

Rose gold is one among the three most popular gold tones used in jewellery, the other two being Yellow Gold & White Gold. Rose gold has a soft pink hue and is therefore called Pink Gold. It gets its colour from the presence of copper in the gold alloy used in jewellery making. More the copper, redder the colour. The ideal mix of alloys in 18K rose gold is 75% Gold, 22% Copper & the remaining being silver and zinc.

More copper, the tone will be Pink and thus Rose Gold

More silver, the tone will be White and thus White Gold.

Yellow White & Rose Gold

The Origin of Rose Gold

By House of Fabergé – Walters Art Museum: Home page  Info about artwork, Public Domain, Link

Rose gold is believed to be born in Russia during the nineteenth century and is, therefore, also called “Russian Gold”. It first appeared in the popular work of one of the famous Russian brand – House of Fabergé, in the form of Fabergé Eggs. Later in 1920’s, rose gold received a major push with the help of the iconic jewellery brand Cartier. Cartier then began including rose gold colour in many of their designs. One of the most famous of them – the Trinity Ring still continues to be a must-have.

KuberBox Tri Tone Trinity Ring

The journey of rose gold hasn’t been all rosy, with periods of dull when the customers ignored it totally. But just like any trend, it made a strong comeback during the world war II period and has remained the same post that. It now holds a strong place in the designer sections of biggest jewellery brands, with few jewellers making just rose gold jewelry exclusively.  

What’s So Hot About Rose Gold

Vintage. Classic. Feminine. Love. iPhone. These are I am sure the first words that come to anybody’s mind when you say “rose gold”. There is a strong vintage feel about rose gold. The fact that it is not as reflective or shiny as the other two (Yellow and white) adds to this vintage effect. Rose gold is the choice of many modern women (and men) who prefer to stand out with this hottest contemporary jewellery trend.

Rose gold is the hottest contemporary jewellery trend.

With its pink colour, it is the natural choice for heart-shaped jewellery or Valentine jewellery. The tone is just perfect for any skin type and is, therefore, selling well. The rose gold-tone also got a major lift with Apple introducing the colour for this iPhones and since then it has become the most in-demand colour variant in iPhones. It is said that the rose gold trend came from watches to jewellery and something which can work well on watches was destined to work well on jewellery. another mildly interesting thing about rose gold is that it requires less maintenance as compared to white gold. It ironically ages gracefully, becoming a better pink over time. White gold, on the other hand, becomes slightly dull with prolonged use. Rose gold, with age, truly becomes Vintage.

What is True Rose Gold?

Some jewellers, for the lack of better knowledge or expertise, apply a rose gold rhodium polish on top of the usual yellow gold or white gold jewellery and pass it off as Rose Gold Jewellery. Mind you, this is just a rose-gold-plated jewellery. As the rhodium coating wears off, the true colour of the gold used will start becoming visible and thus erode the whole effect. A true Rose Gold Jewellery uses actual rose gold alloy as the base material. Therefore the colour of the metal itself will be pink and not white or yellow. This ensures that even when the rhodium wears off, the pink colour is retained.

Red Gold, Rose Gold & Pink Gold

Now you must be wondering, what are these two new gold varieties. Though rose gold can be loosely referred to as either pink gold or red gold, technically, all three are different. As their name would suggest, their identity is to do with their intrinsic colours. As we had mentioned earlier, higher the copper, redder the colour. Thus

75% Gold + 25% Copper  =  Red Gold

75% Gold + 22.5% Copper + 2.5% Silver =  Rose Gold

75% Gold + 20% Copper + 5% Silver =  Pink Gold

Is Rose Gold As Pure As Yellow Gold?

The answer to this question is important, more so in India here because of a lack of awareness about everything except yellow gold. We are quick to dismiss rose gold as not-gold and white gold as either not-gold, or silver or platinum. We had covered this topic about the purity of different gold tones vis-a-vis the decorated yellow gold in one of our earlier blog posts. Quoting from the post –

It’s a universally known fact that gold is yellow (or golden) in colour. Simply going by common sense, as the % of
pure gold goes down in the composition and more of non-yellow alloy metals are introduced, the colour of this metal composition should also start becoming lesser and lesser yellow. This is what naturally happens, i.e. 22K gold is bright golden, 18K is little duller while 14K borders red/pink. But this natural phenomenon can be altered to achieve as desired using alloys that give the desired results with respect to colour. Now the stage is set to break some myths. Therefore, though different purities have different associated colours, any of yellow, white or rose (red/pink) can be achieved by mixing of certain alloys. This behavioural property of gold makes jewellery making very interesting and opens up many possibilities. We at KuberBox try to extend these possibilities to our customers through this small customization window that you can find next to most of our products. 

Just as we explained in our last section that any colour can be achieved for any purity, you can take it for granted that the purity of your white gold and rose gold jewellery is same as what a genuine jeweller like KuberBox claims. If it has any other colour than golden yellow, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is less pure. So go ahead and buy that shining white gold ring without any worry.

What Does Rose Gold Go Best With?

The rose gold tone works really well with white natural diamonds studded in it. Similarly, blue colour gemstones like sapphire, iolite, and black colour gemstones like black diamonds, spinel and onyx match very well with the rose gold colour. The rose gold colour also looks stunningly beautiful with darker tones in enamel. Check out some rose gold pendant jewellery on our website.

Triple Tone Gold Pendant

Further, it complements the other gold tones quite well and that is why you will find a number of dual tone gold jewellery and tri-tone gold jewellery with the modern jewellers.

Is Rose Gold More Expensive?

Under usual circumstances, rose gold isn’t more expensive when compared to yellow gold or white gold. For that matter, for a given purity (18K or 14K), all the three gold colours bear the same monetary value. The colour of the gold doesn’t decide the price of the gold. That is because, in the end, 10 grams of 18K White Gold will have the same amount of pure gold as 10 grams of 18K Rose Gold. Therefore,

Price of       Yellow Gold = White Gold = Rose Gold

How To Clean Rose Gold Jewellery?

Jewellery Cleaning

Just like any other type of gold jewellery, rose gold jewellery must be cleaned gently. You can use a mixture of mild detergent in lukewarm water to dip your rose gold jewellery in. Use of soft cotton cloth and soft bristles toothbrush can help you clean the surface of the gold properly. In areas that are out of reach, you may also use damp ear bud stick or a damp toothpick. Make sure that the stones are strongly studded before you start cleaning because if any stone or diamonds fall off, you may have a tough time locating it.

Where To Buy Rose Gold Jewellery?

Most modern jewellers dealing in contemporary jewellery stock rose gold jewellery. Some contemporary designs look their best when crafted in rose gold. So if you are looking to buy any piece of such a jewel – rose gold pendant or rose gold earrings or rose gold rings, they are available in good variety on our website for purchase. You can shop for rose gold jewellery on our website and we can assure you that you will receive the finest crafted pieces of rose gold jewellery when you buy with us. We only make true rose gold items and therefore the colour on your jewellery will last you generations and will become vintage with age.

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