While it’s true that jewellery acts as a fashion statement, you still need to feel comfortable in what you’re wearing. That means picking styles that suit you, and the finish that compliments you and your tastes. One of the biggest questions you can face when purchasing high-quality gold jewellery is to pick white or yellow gold.

Over the years each one has enjoyed popularity, with one being more stylish than the others at some points. Trends aside, which is the best one to purchase? Here are four tips that can help you choose between white or yellow gold jewellery.

How Durable Do You Need the Piece to Be?

Durability is something that should be given consideration. Everyone’s lifestyle will dictate just how durable they need the piece to be.

Yellow gold tends to be a bit more prone to dents and scratches, but it also tends to require a bit less maintenance. If you want to get it back to its original lustre, polishing and rebuffing will do the trick. Also, if you tend to fluctuate in weight, causing you to resize your jewellery – yellow gold is more malleable.

For those with an active lifestyle who may be bumping their jewellery, you need something strong and durable. White gold tends to be the better option in this case. It contains more metal and nickel alloys, which give it extra strength. However, it will need more maintenance to keep it in “like new” condition. White gold often loses its shine quicker than yellow gold.

Do You Have Any Skin Sensitivities?

Some people also have sensitivities to certain materials, and gold can be one of them. It may cause a rash, itchiness, or even a burning sensation. If that’s true, opt for white gold. It can be safer for sensitive skin thanks to its hypoallergenic properties.

What Are Your Undertones?

It’s also worth identifying the undertones in your skin. People can have warm, cool, or neutral undertones. Warm undertones tend to look best in yellow gold, cool undertones look great with white gold, and if you have neutral undertones – you can wear either and look fabulous.

If you don’t know what your skin undertone is, there are a few ways to figure it out, but the vein test is the easiest.

For this test, look at the veins on the underside of your wrist, paying close attention to colour.

  • Veins with a greenish colour equal a warm undertone
  • Veins with a blueish colour equal a cool undertone
  • If you can’t figure out the colour and it seems evenly mixed, you probably have a neutral undertone

Is One Colour Cheaper Than the Other?

For those shopping with a budget in mind, you may be happy to learn that there isn’t usually a cost difference between the two. If each option is pure gold, it should be priced the same. What does affect the price of white and yellow gold is the karats, which represent the amount of pure gold in the piece.

Generally speaking, gold can be found in 10, 14, 18, and 24 karats. Worth noting that if you are considering 24 karats, it is only available in yellow gold colouring, and it’s also the most expensive. The higher the karats – the amount of pure gold – the more expensive the piece will be.

It Comes Down to Personal Preference

As you can see, choosing between white and yellow gold jewellery isn’t exactly easy. There is no wrong or right answer. It comes down to personal preference, lifestyle, and budget.

If you need help selecting the ideal piece or want to restore a piece you already have, please visit www.martinsjewellers.co.uk/contact, call us on 0141 946 6333, or drop into our shop at 1158 Maryhill Road, Glasgow. We’d be delighted to help you.