We get asked this question often by our customers. Both metals provide pros and cons. We will start off by understanding gold then discuss a little about platinum to help you determine which metal would suit your needs the best.
All gold is mined out in 24 karat which 99.99% gold. The karat of a gold piece of jewelry indicates, the percentage of alloy it has been mixed with. Gold jewelry can be alloyed with silver, copper, zinc, palladium, and nickel to create different gold colors. The most common gold colors are: yellow, white,and rose.
Yellow gold is made by mixing pure gold with silver, copper, and zinc. It is the purest color, the most hypo-allergenic, and requires the least maintenance of all the gold colors.
White gold is made of gold and platinum (or palladium), nickel and zinc. Because it features rhodium plating, white gold must be re-plated with some regularity to maintain its color.
Rose gold (or pink gold) is alloyed with gold, copper, and silver. Due to its copper content, rose gold is more durable than yellow or white gold.
Here is the formula to determine exact purity content of gold in your jewelry.
Since pure gold is mined out in 24 karat, to determine exact content in for example 14 karat, is to simply divide 14 by 24 which is 0.583. Same formula can be applied to any karat gold to determine exact gold content. Below is the list for your reference.
24 karat = 99.99% pure gold 22 karat = 91.7 % gold 18 karat = 75.0 % gold 14 karat = 58.3 % gold 12 karat = 50.0 % gold 10 karat = 41.7 % gold
How does platinum compare to gold?
Platinum is alloyed with iridium, ruthenium, palladium and cobalt. Platinum is the stronger metal yet it scratches easier in comparsion to gold. Typically platinum is casted in 90 - 95% pure. With very little alloy, it makes this metal more vulnarable to dings and scratches. It is not possible to make the distinction between white gold and platinum visually. Due to its higher content it is a more expensive metal to purchase.
Conclusion:
The choice up to the individual based on the data provided, in determining in which what works the best for them while shopping for jewelry.
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