Metals Guide

Platinum

Platinum is a good choice for someone who wants a white coloured ring (as it’s a naturally white metal), that also offers a good level of durability for a precious metal.

Platinum is a very rare dense metal and when used in jewellery the minimum British standard is 95% pure metal. Platinum jewellery has a weightier feel to it due to platinum’s greater density above gold, a downside of this increased weight of course is it means that is usually works out more expensive than the equivalent ring produced in gold. Platinum’s purity means it hypoallergenic and so is suitable for all skin types. Its strength also makes it the most secure metal for setting diamonds in.

White Gold

White gold as per its name is a white coloured metal, but unlike platinum or palladium is not a naturally white metal, as gold (which it’s based upon) has a yellow colour.

We offer most of our rings in either eighteen or nine carat gold. The 18ct alloy consists of 75% fine gold, whilst 9ct has 37.5% fine gold minimum, the remaining metals used in the alloy to make it white in colour are silver and palladium.

From an appearance point of view there’s not a massive difference between platinum and 18ct white gold, however as 9ct white gold has more silver in its alloy, its natural colour is more of an off white, so will also require a rhodium plating to make it bright white. Rhodium plating can wear away over time, in which case you may wish to have it re-plated, and this is a common process carried out by us and most other jewellers.

Yellow Gold

Yellow gold has been the traditional choice of ring metal for many years. Gold has a wonderful warm appearance. Its beautiful rich deep yellow colour combined with a natural lustre means gold makes for a truly spectacular ring. Gold contrasts wonderfully against diamonds but also works very well with coloured stones such as rubies and emeralds.

Gold as with all precious metals is a commodity which over time generally increases in value, which is why purchasing gold jewellery can also be seen as somewhat of a long term investment. Gold has always been highly valued and of great importance for civilisation, even when looking back to ancient times.

Rose Gold

Rose Gold is always a popular choice, which isn’t surprising as its beautiful rosy pink colour is very appealing to many. Sometimes known as red or pink gold, rose gold is in essence created by mixing fine gold with copper. We offer either nine or eighteen carat rose gold choices, both still offer that stunning blush colour, but 9ct has a slightly stronger red colour, whereas 18ct rose gold is a touch more yellowy (due to the increased gold content).

Palladium

Palladium like platinum is a very pure metal (95% purity) so it won’t tarnish or fade, and also has a naturally white colour. The main difference is that it’s around 40% lighter in weight than platinum.

Palladium is the most recent addition to the precious metals, and gained its legal hallmark on 22nd July 2009. Palladium has actually been used for many years in jewellery, particularly around world war two when platinum was more scarce.

Zirconium

Zirconium is a pure, hypoallergenic and hard wearing metal which is grey in colour and can be polished up to a bright lustrous finish. Zirconium is commonly used on space vehicles due to its excellent heat resistant properties.

Plain zirconium has some interesting properties and if it's heated to very high temperatures the surface of the metal will change to a black colour. The colour change occurs because the intense heating of the metal causes a transformation of the surface into a black ceramic like material. The black colour is most intense with a polished finish, whilst the satin finish gives the ring a softer black/gunmetal colour.

We offer Black zirconium wedding rings which are most popular with men, but are also worn by women too, and are particularly eye catching in bi-metal form with a precious metal inlay.