Precious Metals

Metal Education: The Characteristics of Precious Metals

Jewellery is created from many different metals, and there are pros and cons to all types. Depending on your personal style, skin tone, and budget, one metal may be better suited to you than another; for this reason, it’s important to know the differences between metals and alloys.

At AURONIA, our rings are handcrafted with the finest care and are made from various metals and alloys. Each metal alloy has different characteristics that sets it apart from others and makes it unique. Some metals feel heavier on the finger, while other alloys may have a richer colour due to the mixing of precious metals.

Did you know?

All of our rings are made from allergy-friendly alloys, ensuring that even customers with sensitive skin can wear our pieces.

Read below to find out more about the precious metals that we use to make the highest-quality rings.

Yellow Gold

If you want a classic-looking wedding or engagement ring, then yellow gold is an excellent choice. Like white and rose gold, yellow gold is a medium-weight metal making it an ideal metal option for people who want a ring that is wearable day in and day out. Yellow gold is perfect for a wedding and engagement ring combination thanks to the comfort and style it creates.

Due to the traditional appearance of yellow gold, it looks great without added embellishments but also when paired with diamonds. The intense yellow tone offsets the clear, crystal-like quality of diamonds, creating an unforgettable contrast. If you want an even more intense yellow hue, you can opt for a yellow gold ring with a higher gold carat.

If you want a classic-looking wedding or engagement ring, then yellow gold is an excellent choice.

AURONIA's Recommendation

Yellow gold makes the perfect setting for G colour grade diamonds as the slight tint of the stone is eclipsed by the colour of the metal.

White Gold at AURONIA

To achieve brilliant white gold alloys, other types of metal are added to yellow gold to attenuate the colour. AURONIA deliberately does not use manganese or nickel for this purpose, but relies solely on alloys with a high palladium content. This makes for a particularly skin-friendly alloy. In addition to this, your ring will keep its pale colour for a long time, displaying no yellow tint even after several years.

White Gold

Gold is one of the most versatile metals available, and its adaptability makes it a popular metal in jewellery making. AURONIA white gold jewellery has an intense silver hue since it is a combination of gold reinforced with palladium alloy. Moreover, AURONIA white gold rings are finished with rhodium plating for an enduring colour that doesn’t turn yellow.

White gold is not as heavy as platinum but weighs more than silver. This makes it a good option if you want a medium-weight metal like yellow gold, but with a silver tone. The white gold alloy creates more durability and weight than silver, making it a perfect choice for wedding and engagement rings.

Overall, white gold is elegant and timeless, making it the perfect option for jewellery pieces that you want to stand the test of time.

The white gold alloy creates more durability and weight than silver, making it a perfect choice for wedding and engagement rings.

White Gold at AURONIA

Rose Gold

Rose gold jewellery is highly trendy due to the vintage-looking colour of the metal. The high gold content makes it a medium-weight alloy like yellow and red gold. However, what sets it apart from these metals is its unique colour.

Yellow gold is reinforced with a copper alloy to give the metal its distinct rose-coloured and coppery hue. A higher gold carat also affects the intensity of colour, leading to a more striking pink-gold colour.

The gold and copper alloy creates a shimmering and warm metal that looks excellent when paired with bright diamonds, creating a dramatic contrast. Moreover, rose gold pairs well with most skin tones and can be worn with casual and elegant outfits.

Because AURONIA platinum alloys don't contain low-quality metals, they are great for individuals with sensitive skin

Platinum

Platinum metal is similar in appearance to silver, yet differs slightly due to its grey undertones and sheen finish. Platinum is a fantastic choice for wedding and engagement rings, as its solid and lasting nature reflects the endurance of love.

Since platinum is so resistant to the elements and mechanical stress, it is excellent for everyday use.

Because AURONIA platinum alloys don't contain low-quality metals, they are great for individuals with sensitive skin. Platinum doesn’t cause irritation or skin reactions. It is also heavier than gold and silver, which makes it more durable, but no less wearable.

Silver

Silver is one of the most popular precious metals, due to its lower price-tag and bright look. AURONIA rings made with silver are coated with rhodium to create a glossy and shiny finish, and give the ring more resilience. This ensures that the metal won’t wear off easily.

Many couples opt for silver rings since they are lightweight and can be worn daily. While silver is an optimal choice for commitment rings to wear with your partner, for engagement and wedding rings, it is better to go for a stronger alloy like gold or platinum.

Pair apricot gold pieces with other metals to create a contrast.

Apricot Gold

Despite apricot gold sounding as though it would have a strong yellow tone, it is slightly different from yellow gold. With an off-gold colour containing hints of red, apricot gold is a popular metal choice among women due to its soft yet striking shade.

A copper alloy is added to gold to create a unique-looking metal with a golden shine. It is a great choice for individuals looking for a more subtle version of rose gold, with fewer pink tones.

The combination of gold and copper creates medium-weight rings that weigh around the same as yellow gold rings. However, apricot gold is more versatile than yellow gold, which makes it suitable for both cool and warm skin tones.

Due to its gorgeous colour, you can pair apricot gold pieces with other metals to create a contrast. It’s wearable and goes well with different types of jewellery and styles.

Pair apricot gold pieces with other metals to create a contrast.

Palladium

Like platinum, palladium is another great alternative to silver and gold as it is suitable for sensitive skin sufferers. Many individuals prefer a palladium alloy due to its rarity and striking appearance. Palladium has strong hues of grey that create a dark silver metal.

The silver-grey colour of palladium goes well with diamond embellishments. Whether you want a smaller or larger gemstone, palladium offers the perfect band backdrop for diamond rings.

Despite its lightweight feel, palladium is extremely hard-wearing. Its strong properties make it more resistant to scratches, ensuring that you can wear it day in and day out. Palladium’s durability as a metal makes it a great choice for wedding rings.

Palladium’s durability as a metal makes it a great choice for wedding rings.

Grey Gold

Since it is slightly less common than other precious metal alloys, grey gold is a fantastic choice for people who want something a little different. Grey gold weighs around the same as yellow gold, but is not as traditional in terms of colour and appearance.

Grey gold is similar to white gold as they both use a palladium alloy. However, grey gold has a darker and more muted appearance, unlike white gold which has a more of a silver colour due to its rhodium plating.

Grey gold is a perfect choice for men’s rings, due to its hushed tones. Moreover, it is heavier than silver, yet lighter than platinum so creates a ring that is comfortable to wear all day. It is also long-lasting, meaning that you’ll get many years of wear out of a ring made from this specific metal.

Red Gold

Red gold creates deep copper coloured rings with a more intense red hue than rose gold. Red gold contains more copper than rose gold, which makes it perfect if you want striking-looking jewellery.

Red gold rings are versatile and look good on every skin tone. Moreover, red gold complements other metal colours, making it a good option for bi-colour designs.

Diamonds also look great against red gold metal rings, since the red contrasts with the intense sparkle of the stone.

Like rose gold, red gold rings are medium weight. This makes them the perfect choice for engagement or wedding rings since you can easily wear them everyday.

Does the alloy matter?

Metal alloys affect a range of factors such as price, ring colour, and durability. To ensure you choose the best ring metal, there are certain things you need to be aware of.

Firstly, when choosing a ring you’ll come across the term ‘metal fineness’. Fineness refers to the weight of the precious metal, such as gold. So, if you find a yellow gold ring with a high fineness, this means there is a higher percentage of gold in the metal, which will intensify the yellow hue.

Remember that white gold and silver rings coated with rhodium have different fineness levels, but will look the same due to the outer rhodium layer creating a consistent white-silver colour.

Since fineness indicates the precious metal content in rings, rings with a higher fineness are usually more expensive. For a budget-friendly option you can choose a ring with a lower fineness; however, these rings will often have a more muted colour and lack durability.

AURONIA's Recommendation

If you want a ring that looks great and is durable, we recommend 14 or 18-carat gold rings or high-content alloys for palladium and platinum rings. These rings provide the best results in terms of colour, weight, and other properties.

AURONIA's Recommendation