Glossary
White, red and rose gold
White, red and rose gold are gold alloys that differ only in their additional metals, not their fineness.
The colour of a gold alloy comes from the metals mixed with the gold. Yellow gold contains roughly equal amounts of silver and copper; red gold has much more copper; rose gold has some copper and a little silver. White gold is alloyed with palladium, silver or nickel until the yellow tint disappears.
Value depends on fineness, however, not colour. 750 white, red and yellow gold each contain exactly 750 parts pure gold per thousand and are therefore bought at the same price per gram. Colour tells you nothing about the gold proportion.
White gold is also almost always rhodium-plated. A very thin rhodium layer makes the surface bright white and more scratch-resistant. After a few years it wears away and the item may look slightly yellow again. This is normal and does not reduce material value, because we weigh the gold beneath it.
Worked example: colour changes nothing
At a gold price of 120,00 € per gram of fine gold, a 5 gram 585 white gold ring has exactly 351,00 € in material value, the same as a red gold ring of equal weight and fineness.
In 750, 5 grams would be worth 450,00 €, regardless of colour. At a payout of 90 to 95 % of spot, that is approximately 405,00 to 427,50 €. A blanket lower offer for white gold is not a sound calculation.
Sell coloured gold in Nordhorn
We regularly see white gold wedding-ring pairs, recent rose gold necklaces and pre-war red gold heirlooms in Nordhorn. We measure every item's actual fineness instead of relying on its colour.
This matters more than it may seem. Some apparent white gold is rhodium-plated silver, while a pale ring may be high-fineness palladium white gold. You cannot tell by eye, but the test shows the difference in seconds, free of charge.