So you’ve decided what kind of diamond you want for your engagement ring and the design itself.
Great.
Now what about choosing the best metal for your engagement ring?
You have some options.
Platinum. 19k white gold. 18k palladium white gold. 18k and 14k white/yellow/rose gold.
These are the most popular metals for custom Vancouver engagement rings and wedding bands.
Platinum and 19k White Gold
We use metals from Argen and Imerial when crafting jewellery.
Platinum and 19k white gold are the best options if you want a “white/silver” look.
Both stay white in colour and don’t need rhodium plating.
Platinum is denser, heavier and non-allergenic. If you’re allergic to nickel then this is the metal to go with. But it’s softer and will scratch more easily.
19k white gold is harder and more scratch resistant. It protects diamonds well.
What sets 19k white gold apart from other white gold is this:
It has more nickel mixed into it.
This is what makes it harder, more scratch resistant and stay white in colour.
The metal casting is already white. No rhodium plating needed.
For a white metal it’s hard to beat 19k as the best metal for your engagement ring.
But if you have a metal allergy then avoid 19k or your finger will develop a rash.
Platinum will cost you a few hundred bucks more on average per ring over 19k. It costs more per gram of metal, is heavier/denser and takes more labour time to work with.
18k and 14k White Gold
18k and 14k white gold have a yellowish “nicotine” colour after casting.
There’s less nickel mixed with the yellow gold to create these two metals compared to 19k white gold.
So they’ll require rhodium plating to make the finished engagement ring look white.
19k white gold may be a bit more scratch resistant, but 14k and 18k are still very scratch resistant, too.
18k white gold costs about $15 more per gram than 14k.
18k Palladium White Gold
Like platinum, 18k palladium white gold is the metal for those with a nickel allergy.
It’s 75% yellow gold mixed with 25% palladium to create 18k palladium white gold.
Completely non-allergenic.
The only draw backs are that it requires rhodium plating and is the least scratch resistant among the white golds.
Palladium is expensive nowadays. This 18k palladium white gold mix will cost the most per gram compared to the other metals.
18k and 14k Yellow Gold
Also non-allergenic. Yellow gold is the classic colour and seems to always keep its style.
Not as hard and scratch resistant as white gold.
But hard enough to protect your diamonds – as long as you don’t go with 22k or 24k (these will be too soft).
Like white gold, 18k yellow gold costs roughly $15 more per gram than 14k yellow. Same goes for rose gold below.
18k and 14k Rose Gold
More copper mixed with yellow gold gives this metal its “rose” colour.
It’s hardness is pretty much same as yellow gold for 14k and 18k.
And it’s non-allergenic as well.
We’re getting an equal amount of requests for engagement rings in rose gold and yellow gold.
So both colours are equally popular from our experience.
That about sums up the most popular metals clients ask for when crafting engagement rings and wedding bands.
Thanks for reading;)