Ring Metals: Your Perfect Match

From bright, colourless platinum and white gold to the warm and characterful tones of yellow and rose gold, delve into our metals guides, curated by Queensmith experts, and find which is the perfect choice for you and your ring.

This guide features top tips and recommendations to help you choose the best metal for an engagement or wedding ring:

• Understanding the key properties of ring metals

• Specific ring metal guides

• About platinum

• About yellow gold

• About rose gold

• About white gold

• Other modern ring metal alternatives

• So, what ring metal should you choose?

• Tips to choose the best metal for your engagement or wedding ring

It’s tempting to just focus on the sparkle of a diamond or gemstone, but the metal of your ring serves as its foundation, both literally and symbolically. The correct metal affects the appearance, feel and durability of your ring. Consider these ring metal factors before making a choice:

• Durability: Will it hold up to everyday use?

• Colour: Does it enhance your skin tone and match your personal style?

• Maintenance: How much upkeep is needed to preserve its shine?

• Ethics: Is it sourced responsibly or recycled?

• Budget: What offers the best combination of beauty and value?

As a colourless and lustrous metal, platinum is an excellent choice of ring metal for diamond engagement rings. The reflectivity of the platinum enhances the diamond’s sparkle, keeping it bright, colourless and icy. Platinum is a versatile and common jewellery metal, suitable for a wide variety of tastes and designs. It is the perfect choice for a timeless engagement ring that will transcend fashions and changing trends.

Platinum is an exceptional choice for engagement rings or wedding rings due to its numerous advantages. It is hypoallergenic, making it ideal for those with sensitive skin. Platinum is nearly 100% pure, ensuring a luxurious and high-quality metal that doesn’t tarnish or fade over time. Its natural white lustre enhances the brilliance of diamonds and other gemstones, providing a timeless and elegant appearance. The durability and strength of platinum ensure that your ring will withstand everyday wear while maintaining its beauty for a lifetime.

Historically, platinum was more expensive than gold. However, the cost of platinum and gold has evened out in recent years, meaning platinum is no longer considered a more expensive metal. It is more expensive than similar-looking metals, like silver, because it is rarer and more durable. For these reasons, it is considered a great choice for engagement rings.

Platinum is one of the toughest and most durable metals available for engagement rings. It is more resistant to scratches and scuffs than gold, but you should be aware that all precious metals can scratch and warp if treated poorly. Over time, platinum can develop a patina, which can be easily polished away. If left, this patina gives the ring a vintage look while maintaining its strength and beauty. As the strongest ring metal available, platinum ensures your engagement ring will stand the test of time, maintaining its elegance and integrity through everyday wear.

Yellow gold is a versatile ring metal. It can look classic and traditional, thanks to its historical routes, or totally contemporary with simple, refined ring designs. Once upon a time, yellow gold was the number one choice for engagement rings, and whilst platinum has enjoyed the top spot since the late 20th Century, the sunshine tone is having a resurgence in popularity.

18k gold is more popular than 24k gold due to its perfect balance of purity and durability, and complements vintage and classic designs beautifully.

Yellow gold’s warm, rich hue complements various skin tones. Its durability ensures that it can withstand daily wear while maintaining its lustrous appearance. Additionally, yellow gold is easy to maintain and can be polished to restore its shine. Its enduring appeal makes it a versatile option that never goes out of style, perfect for those seeking a traditional and elegant look.

At Queensmith, the choice of metal does not impact the price of your engagement ring. The cost of your ring will primarily depend on the design, craftsmanship, and the quality of the stones chosen, rather than the metal itself. This makes yellow gold a versatile and stylish option without worrying about additional costs related to the metal choice.

In the UK, 9k and 18k gold are the most common choices for engagement rings. The key difference between the two lies in their gold content: 9k gold contains 37.5% pure gold, while 18k gold contains 75%. This difference significantly impacts their appearance, durability, and price.

At Queensmith, all engagement rings are crafted from 18k gold unless otherwise requested, ensuring you receive the finest quality and most beautiful gold hue.

Choosing between 9k and 18k gold ultimately depends on your priorities for durability, appearance, and budget, but for those desiring the best quality and richness, 18k gold is the superior choice.

Read our guide on how to choose the best gold engagement ring.

Rose gold will make a modern ring design look sleek and contemporary. Although rose gold is a modern ring material, that doesn’t mean it should be restricted to modern engagement ring designs only; rose gold can give an otherwise traditional ring an unusual and contemporary twist.

Rose gold offers several advantages, making it a popular choice for engagement rings. Formed by alloying pure gold with copper and silver, rose gold has a distinctive pink hue that adds a romantic and vintage charm. Its unique colour compliments a variety of skin tones and stands out from traditional gold and white metals. Rose gold is also highly durable due to the copper content, making it resistant to wear and suitable for daily use. Additionally, its warm, flattering tone pairs beautifully with diamonds and other gemstones, creating an elegant and timeless look.

At Queensmith, the choice of metal does not affect the price of your engagement ring. Therefore, rose gold engagement rings cost the same as those made from platinum or yellow and white gold. Rose gold offers a unique and romantic alternative without additional cost considerations. Its beautiful pink hue, created by alloying gold with copper and silver, provides a distinctive look that’s both elegant and durable. This makes rose gold a cost-effective yet stylish option for those seeking something different from traditional yellow or white gold.

White gold is a beautifully lustrous and bright ring metal, the perfect accompaniment to colourless diamonds. The colour within rose and yellow gold can be picked up by diamonds, so white gold or platinum is a sensible, classic option for engagement rings. You should be aware that white gold needs replating in rhodium every so often to keep it silvery – you may prefer to opt for platinum, which does not need replating.

Read more: Platinum vs White Gold Engagement Ring: What Should You Choose?

White gold offers several advantages, making it a popular choice for engagement rings. It has a sleek, modern appearance similar to platinum and silver, but is more durable than silver, making it suitable for everyday wear. Its neutral colour enhances the brilliance of diamonds and complements a variety of gemstones, making it a versatile choice. Additionally, the rhodium plating used on white gold adds extra shine and helps protect the ring from scratches and tarnish.

At Queensmith, the choice of metal does not impact the price of your engagement ring. White gold engagement rings offer the elegant, modern appearance of platinum without additional cost considerations. This makes white gold a cost-effective choice for those seeking a sleek and contemporary look. Its durability and bright finish, enhanced by rhodium plating, provide an attractive alternative to platinum, combining both style and value without any price difference.

White gold is rhodium-plated because the mixture of alloy metals alone doesn’t achieve a true white colour. Without rhodium plating, white gold is a pale, buttery yellow tone. Rhodium, a tough and hypoallergenic precious metal, is applied to the surface to give white gold its bright, silvery appearance. This plating enhances the ring's durability, making it scratch-resistant and providing a luxurious finish.