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Why Does Gold Have Different Colors?

A model's hand wearing a stack of four wedding bands in yellow, white, rose and champagne gold

Gold is an incredibly gorgeous and valuable metal that can come in various shades. Primarily, gold is yellow and in order to create additional shades, the gold is often mixed with other metals to create an alloy in the same way you may mix paint colors to create beautiful new hues. 

These alloys allow gold to be more durable and affordable. Gold is a rare precious metal whose price is usually based on the karat, or purity, of the gold. The higher the karat, the more expensive the piece. 

Gold is also a soft and malleable metal, mixing gold with other metals increases its durability and makes it more resistant to scratching and bending. All Automic Gold jewelry is made with 14 karat gold. We believe this ratio of gold to other metals brings the best balance between durability and value.

Various companies use different formulas and ratios to achieve their gold colors. Below you can see the percentages that Automic Gold uses to create our 14k gold colors: 

14k Yellow Gold - 58.5% gold, 26% copper, 8.5% silver, zinc 7%

14k Rose Gold - 58.5 % gold, 38% copper, 3.5% silver

14k Champagne Gold - 58.5 % gold, 23.5% copper, 5% silver, zinc 6%, nickel 7% 

14k White Gold - 58.5 % gold, 23.5% copper, 5% silver, zinc 6%, nickel 7% with a Rhodium Finish

You may notice that our formulas for white and champagne gold are very similar. That’s because the metals used to create white gold have a yellowish tone when all mixed together. This vanilla-like color creates our gorgeous champagne gold and we use a rhodium finish to correct the color to white gold. 

What is Rhodium?

Rhodium is a precious metal in the platinum family that has a bright metallic color and shine. It’s also naturally scratch and tarnish-resistant like gold, so the finish maintains the same high quality.

Rhodium plating can wear off after long term wear but it can be easily re-applied by one of our jewelers. If your Automic Gold jewelry needs re-plating please contact us.

Radically wearable fine jewelry, for everyone.

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