One of the most frequent questions we have is ‘what is the difference between white gold and silver’. Precious metals can appear to be a very attractive investment as they never loose their value. White gold is commonly mistaken for silver because its manufacturing process takes away the yellow tinge in favour of a silvery, white finish. The most obvious difference between white gold and silver is that they are made from two different metals.

Silver

Is a shiny precious metal that’s usually mixed with copper when making jewellery. Known as sterling silver, it is the least expensive of all white metals. Mixing pure silver with other materials gives it the strength to ensure it won’t be too soft to create beautiful pieces. Sterling silver is the highest grade of silver that can have any practical use and is usually stamped ‘925,’  which means 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 other metals. If silver was any purer it would be too soft to use.

White Gold

White gold is an alloy of gold. It is made by combining pure gold and alloy metals that have a silvery-white colour, such as palladium and silver which gives the shiny white look to the regular gold. white gold jewellery is additionally coated in a precious metal known as rhodium, which adds extra strength and durability to the piece. Rhodium adds a really lustrous white surface sheen, making it the perfect metal to coat and protect precious jewellery.