Yellow Gold vs. Rose Gold: How Do They Compare?

Did you know that people have been using gold as an object of value for thousands of years? Today, people still love to invest in gold because it is resistant to inflation and there’s no worry about it losing its inherent value. Many people are familiar with gold because of its famous yellow color, but there is also such as thing as rose gold which can be pink or red.

When it comes to yellow gold vs rose gold, which is the better investment? Is one really any better than the other or is it just the color that’s different? Keep reading and learn more about these two types of gold below.

What Is Yellow Gold?

Yellow gold is the most traditional type of gold there is. When you dig gold out of the ground, it is actually a very deep yellow color, more yellow than you might expect gold to be. That’s because the gold you tend to see such as gold jewelry is cut with different types of metal such as nickel.

Since nickel is a silvery metal, it makes gold look lighter than it is in nature. Pure gold is also known as 24K gold and it is the real deal. However, its appearance might look strange to you because it is very yellow and not mixed with nickel or any other metals.

Because it is not mixed with any other metals, it is a very weak type of metal on its own. That’s why you don’t often see 24K jewelry; it would become damaged far too easily. However, as an investment, there’s nothing better than 24K gold.

When you invest in pure gold, the weight of the metal directly correlates to its worth. This isn’t the case with other types of gold such as 18K or 10K gold. These types of gold have a high percentage of other metals mixed in. For that reason, even if you have a very heavy 18K gold necklace, it might not be worth as much as you might expect because there isn’t all that much gold in it.

Much of the weight will be made up of nickel and other junk metals. Does that mean you should never invest in gold less than 24K? Not necessarily. 24K gold is very expensive gold and not everyone can afford to invest in it.

18K gold, on the other hand, is the next best thing. There is still plenty of gold in an 18K piece.

What Is Rose Gold?

Rose gold is unique and relatively new compared to yellow gold. That’s because this type of metal only came about at the end of the 19th century. Specifically, Carl Faberge (the same Faberge who created the famous Faberge eggs) invented rose gold. He crafted it for the Russian Imperial family and at the time, the metal was only allowed for the Russian aristocracy and royalty.

Today, anyone can get their hands on rose gold. What makes it unique is its pinkish-red hue. This hue comes about from the presence of copper mixed in with the gold. As mentioned before, nickel is the metal that people usually use to mix with gold to make it harder.

But because copper naturally has a rich reddish-orange color, this color translates well when mixed with gold. The color of the resulting metal will depend on how much copper the manufacturer decides to mix into the gold. The more copper the manufacturer uses, the redder the gold will be.

This can give the metal a very striking appearance, but the downside is that there will not be very much gold in comparison to the copper. This, of course, will not permit the metal to be worth very much. On the other hand, if you mix in less copper, the cold will be more pink than red in color.

When investing in rose gold, you will want to opt for pieces that have a high percentage of gold. Otherwise, your investment won’t be worth very much. 18K rose gold is ideal because it will give you the most amount of gold.

Unfortunately, you cannot get your hands on 24K rose gold. To create rose gold, there has to be some copper mixed in. If you mix any metal with gold, it will no longer be pure.

Yellow Gold vs Rose Gold

Choosing between yellow gold and rose gold can be difficult, but the choice all depends on what you want out of your investment. If you want to be serious about gold investing, you should only invest in 24K gold. That way, you will know that the gold is pure and you will know its value based on its weight alone.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try investing in other types of gold. After all, if you don’t have a lot of money to start off investing with, investing in other types of gold can be a good place to start. There is not a big difference between investing in yellow gold and rose gold.

For example, 18K yellow gold and 18K rose gold will both contain the same percentage of gold. The only real difference is the appearance. Rose gold is pink due to the addition of copper.

On the other hand, yellow gold keeps its yellow color because the color of nickel and other junk metals is faint in comparison.

Making the Choice

Making the choice between yellow gold vs rose gold can be difficult, but both choices are good choices. If you want to start investing in gold, both of these gold options make for good places to start.

To learn more about investing in gold, contact us here.

The post Yellow Gold vs. Rose Gold: How Do They Compare? first appeared on CMI Gold & Silver.