What is yellow gold?
Yellow gold describes gold with the familiar yellow appearance of the metal. At very high purity the colour comes largely from the gold itself; at lower purities, alloy metals are chosen to retain a yellow appearance while changing hardness and working properties.
It is not one fixed purity. Yellow-gold jewellery can be 24K, 22K / 916, 18K / 750, 14K / 585, and other fineness levels.
Is yellow gold pure gold?
Sometimes. Very-high-purity gold is naturally yellow, but much of the yellow-gold jewellery sold commercially is an alloy. The karat or fineness mark tells you the purity. Colour does not.
Why does yellow gold stay yellow?
Gold already has a naturally yellow colour. Alloy metals are chosen in combinations that alter hardness and working properties while retaining a yellow appearance. The lower the purity, the greater the proportion of other metals in the alloy.
Yellow gold vs white gold
The main difference is alloy composition and appearance. An 18K yellow-gold ring and an 18K white-gold ring both contain about 75% gold. Their gold-content reference value is therefore similar if the gold-alloy weight is the same. Their finished retail prices can differ.
Yellow gold vs rose gold
Rose gold uses an alloy composition that creates a pink or reddish tone. Again: purity determines gold content, not colour.
Does higher-karat yellow gold contain more gold?
Yes. For equal weights:
- 22K/916 contains more gold than 18K/750
- 18K contains more than 14K/585
Higher gold content generally also means less alloy material.
How is yellow gold valued?
Use:
gold-alloy weight × fineness × current pure-gold reference
A 10g 18K yellow-gold item: 10 × 0.75 × current pure-gold reference
A 10g 916 yellow-gold item: 10 × 0.916 × reference
Jewellery price vs gold value
The retail price can include substantially more than the metal. So don't use a jewellery receipt as a direct measure of recoverable gold value.
Selling yellow gold
A buyer will typically assess purity and payable gold weight. The fact the item is yellow does not create a separate yellow-gold commodity price. Use the Gold Value Calculator to estimate your gold content before requesting quotes.
