White Gold Engagement Rings

White gold is the most popular choice of precious metal for engagement rings today.  At Ingle & Rhode, we start by sourcing pure 24ct fair trade gold, which is yellow in colour and too soft for fine jewellery. We then alloy this with silver and palladium to create 18ct white gold, which is more hard wearing.

18ct white gold has a slight yellow tint, and so to give them a bright white sheen, most 18ct white gold engagement rings are coated with a thin layer of rhodium.  To the naked eye, newly rhodium-coated white gold engagement rings look very similar to newly polished platinum engagement rings. Indeed, one of the most common questions we are asked, is what is the difference between white gold and platinum? 
 
In brief, 18ct white gold is about 30% less dense than platinum, so gold rings tend to weigh a little less. Gold is also slightly less scarce than platinum, and slightly easier to work with, meaning that 18ct white gold engagement rings tend to be a little less expensive. Finally, after a number of years of normal wear, the rhodium coating may begin to wear a little thin on the inside of a white gold engagement ring, allowing the natural colour of the gold to show. This is not something you should worry about though, as it is very easy and inexpensive to have a new rhodium coating applied, which will restore your white gold engagement ring to its former glory.

At Ingle & Rhode, we also offer custom-made engagement rings in 18ct yellow gold, and platinum. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about our bespoke engagement rings or any other bespoke jewellery.