Notes on White Gold

October 17, 2026

What is white gold? White gold is an alloy, a mixture of two or more metals, comprised of pure fine gold with either nickel or palladium and some blend of silver, copper and zinc. In the US, white gold can be found in 10k (karats), 14k and 18k. "Traditional" American white gold is alloyed with nickel. The karat number denotes the percentage of gold contained in the alloy. 

10 karat: 41.7% fine gold

14 karat: 58.3%-60% fine gold

18 karat: 75% fine gold

Nickel notes: Most people experience some degree of dermatitis when exposed to nickel alloys, especially in the 10-14k range. For this reason, traditional American white gold is compulsorily plated with rhodium, a bright silvery-white metal in the platinum family. Rhodium plating nickel white gold prevents oxidation, creates a bright shiny finish and protects the customer's skin. Jewelers are required by law in the US to disclose the presence of nickel in jewelry. Customers should expect that rhodium plated rings that take daily wear will need to be re-plated every two years or so.

I prefer palladium white gold alloys and avoid working with nickel alloys. This is out of concern for the customer's comfort, the long-term quality of the jewel, and so that I can avoid being exposed to carcinogenic nickel dust in my workshop. 

Like platinum, palladium can be used on its own, without being alloyed with gold and it is a strong and relatively valuable metal. However, palladium is very brittle and prone to shattering or cracking. Alloying palladium with gold helps its workability and imparts a vaguely champagne hue. For reasons of value and durability, platinum is the most desirable white jewelry metal. The one downside is that very high heat is needed to work platinum and it is not compatible for mokume billets outside of a high tech lab environment, such as exists in some university metal shops. In my small workshop, I use 14 or 18k palladium white gold and silver for my mokume gane LAVINIA collection. 

Bellow are some rings made with a combination of 14k palladium white gold, 18k palladium white gold and silver. You can see that next to the silver, the palladium white gold appears more yellow/brown. Though they contrast to an interesting effect together in a mokume billet, palladium gold does tend to read more as a silvery white metal when standing alone. For example, the sapphire and diamond rings shown in THIS blog post on selecting bridal jewelry, are both made in 14k palladium white gold.

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