Five Gold Rings

As we are entering the first week of December it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Harriet Kelsall Bespoke Jewellery. One thing which is certainly different is the music in our showroom as we have started playing a selection of festive tunes to get everyone in the mood for our busiest time of the year! This got us thinking about one of the lines in the classic Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas. “On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five gold rings” so we’re here to share a round-up of the five types of gold you can use to make everyone’s Christmas presents…

Yellow gold

Gold is always yellow when found in its pure form and so yellow gold is a wonderfully classic choice for a piece of jewellery. Its warm tones contrast beautifully with crisp white diamonds and creates a dramatic look when paired with coloured gemstones. When alloyed to 9 carat yellow gold it is a beautiful pale shade and when alloyed to 18 carat yellow gold is a brighter yellow colour.

Rose gold

Rose gold is yellow gold alloyed with copper to give it a rosy shade, hence the name. It is incredibly popular and continues to be one of our most popular precious metals used in contemporary engagement and wedding ring designs. The 9 carat rose gold has more copper in it and consequently it is redder in colour to the 18 carat rose gold (my favourite metal type of all!) which is a yellow-red shade and has a beautiful rich feel to it. Rose gold looks amazing when coupled with white diamonds as well as pink, peach and champagne coloured gemstones. To create a dramatic contrast it can be set with smoky-grey or grey-green gemstones for a modern twist.

White gold

White gold is alloyed with other white precious metals to give it a modern white look. That being said it still retains warmth to it depending on the carat you choose; 9 carat white gold is warm and creamy whilst 18 carat white gold is a darker gunmetal colour. It makes the perfect metal for anyone who likes white metal but doesn’t like the stark whiteness of platinum or palladium. If you have it without any rhodium plating you can enjoy the warmth of the metal next to your gemstones. It looks particularly good with blue, green, orange or yellow gemstones.

Fairtrade gold

All colours and carats of gold are also available in Fairtrade. This metal is mined by small scale artisanal miners and the miners receive both a fair price for their gold but also the extra Fairtrade premium which can be used by their communities for whatever they are in need of e.g. education, healthcare, dentistry etc. It adds a wonderful ethical dimension to your bespoke piece of jewellery and we are pushing to create more and more of our Ready-to-Wear dress jewellery using Fairtrade gold wherever possible.

Mixed gold

Why have one shade of gold when you can have all of them? We have seen a rise in the popularity of using different shades of gold within a single design and the results can be subtle or dramatic depending on your taste. Despite the modern designs you can achieve with mixed metals, antique jewellery is often found to have been made from different colours of gold, often the band is formed from yellow gold and the stone settings crafted in white gold and this is something which is still popular today in vintage style designs.