There is no such thing as green gold!
There are however gold alloys which appear green.
When jewellers speak of green gold, they mean green gold alloys.
Gold Alloys
Gold itself is a yellow metallic element but, in its pure form, it is too soft to be used for general jewellery purposes, although there are some cultures which do wear pure gold jewellery, it would need to be heavily made and carefully used. The yellow colour of gold is caused by gold absorbing violet and blue light, but reflecting yellow and red light.
It is usual for gold to be mixed with other metals to produce an alloy, which is simply a mixture of two or more metals. Throughout history, most people have preferred the colour of gold jewellery to remain close to that of pure gold itself, and so most jewellery has historically been made using yellow gold alloys. Other metals mixed with gold to produce alloys include copper and silver, which are the common components of most yellow gold alloys, and nickel, zinc, and palladium to produce white alloys.
Green Gold Alloys
Green gold alloys are made by leaving the copper out of the alloy mixture, and just having gold and silver. In most cases, it is more of a greenish yellow, rather than what most people would describe as green.
Eighteen carat green gold would therefore contain:- Gold 75%; Silver 25%
Most green gold alloys are rather soft to be used for general jewellery purposes, but it can be used very effectively for decorative effects on hand-made pieces of jewellery
What is Green Gold?
There is no such thing as green gold!
There are however gold alloys which appear green.
When jewellers speak of green gold, they mean green gold alloys.
Gold Alloys
Gold itself is a yellow metallic element but, in its pure form, it is too soft to be used for general jewellery purposes, although there are some cultures which do wear pure gold jewellery, it would need to be heavily made and carefully used. The yellow colour of gold is caused by gold absorbing violet and blue light, but reflecting yellow and red light.
It is usual for gold to be mixed with other metals to produce an alloy, which is simply a mixture of two or more metals. Throughout history, most people have preferred the colour of gold jewellery to remain close to that of pure gold itself, and so most jewellery has historically been made using yellow gold alloys. Other metals mixed with gold to produce alloys include copper and silver, which are the common components of most yellow gold alloys, and nickel, zinc, and palladium to produce white alloys.
Green Gold Alloys
Green gold alloys are made by leaving the copper out of the alloy mixture, and just having gold and silver. In most cases, it is more of a greenish yellow, rather than what most people would describe as green.
Eighteen carat green gold would therefore contain:- Gold 75%; Silver 25%
Most green gold alloys are rather soft to be used for general jewellery purposes, but it can be used very effectively for decorative effects on hand-made pieces of jewellery