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Contents
- What exactly is
rose gold and what are its benefits? - What is the diamond
color grading scale? - Which color grades
are best for rose gold rings?- 1. Round cut diamonds and rose gold
- 2. Princess, Emerald, Asscher, and Radiant cut diamonds and rose gold
- 3. Other fancy diamond cuts and rose gold
A truly great engagement ring is a
combination of many different factors – the size, cut, clarity, and color of
its diamond, the setting the stone is placed in, the metal and design of the
ring, and all the smaller and more specific details that go into all of these
factors. In a way, creating the perfect engagement ring is like putting together
a dress ensemble – all the different pieces must not only look good in and of
themselves but must also look good together.
With that in mind, one of the most common
questions a lot of people have is about rose gold engagement rings and which
diamonds look best on them. Rose gold is a great material for engagement rings
for plenty of different reasons, including how it affects diamond color.
So, which is the best diamond color for
rose gold rings? The answer is that it depends on the stone’s shape but overall
rose gold allows for more medium range color grades such as those between I and
M. To give you a more specific answer, let’s get some of the basics out of the
way first.
What exactly is
rose gold and what are its benefits?
Rose gold solitaire ring. See it here.
There are three main types of gold use in
the jewelry industry – yellow, white, and rose. It’s understandable to think of
yellow gold as “natural” or “real” gold but all three are actually alloys
between natural yellow gold and other metals. That’s done because natural gold
is too soft for jewelry use and it doesn’t last too long.
So, the difference between the 3 main gold
colors is in what other metals they are alloyed with (plus, white gold is also
coated with rhodium). In the case of rose gold, it’s an alloy of gold and
copper.
There are three main types of rose gold:
- Red gold (18K) – 75% gold
and 25% copper - Rose gold (18K) – 75% gold,
22.25% copper, and 2.75% silver - Pink gold (18K) – 75% gold,
20% copper, and 5% silver.
There are also 14K versions of these
combinations that include ~66% gold and more copper and silver. Of those three
main variations, Red and Rose gold are harder than Pink gold because of the
increased copper content.
Rose gold halo setting. See it here.
And this is one of the several benefits of
rose gold too:
- Rose gold is harder &
more durable than yellow gold. Because of the extra
copper in its alloy, rose gold can last longer and withstand more knocks and
bruises than yellow and white gold. - Rose gold goes great with
all skin tones. While white and yellow gold work
well with some skin tones and not so much with others, rose gold fits well on
pretty much all skin colors. - Rose gold offers a unique
combination of classic and contemporary styles.
Yellow gold is typically viewed as the classic material for rings while white
gold and other white metals are used for more modern designs. Rose gold is
great in that it can work beautifully with both styles. - Rose gold has a very
romantic and feminine look which makes it even more
suitable for engagement rings. - And finally, the benefit that’s
the reason behind this article – rose gold works better than all other
metals with faintly colored diamonds. The reason for that can be seen as
both a benefit and a negative and it’s that rose gold will impart slight color
even to a completely colorless diamond simply because the gold’s color gets
reflected in the diamond. So, if you want a 100% colorless diamond you may want
to pick a white metal. However, if you go for rose gold, there’s no point in
overpaying for a perfectly colorless stone and you can save a fair bit of money
by moving down the color scale.
What is the diamond
color grading scale?
Established by the Gemological Institute of
America GIA, the color
grading scale for colorless diamonds divides colorless diamonds into multiple
categories based on their lack of color. The scale is alphabetical and ranges
from D to Z.
- D, E and F – the first three grades are for Colorless diamonds –
stones with no noticeable color whatsoever. - G, H, I and J – these grades are Near Colorless and they do exhibit
some barely noticeable color but nothing too impactful on the diamond’s look. - K, L and M – the next three are the Faint Color colorless
diamonds. These stones have more pronounced color, usually yellow or brown, and
aren’t considered “top range” for engagement rings. - N to R – these are the Very Light Color diamonds and aren’t
recommended for engagement rings even if they are made from rose gold. - S to Z – these are Light Color diamonds and they are the
transitional grades between colorless and colored diamonds. They are almost
never recommended for engagement rings as they are neither good colorless
diamonds nor good colored ones.
Note:
If you have a choice between brown and yellow hues in your “colorless”
diamonds, keep in mind that brown color hues work better with rose gold while
yellow color hues are preferred with yellow gold rings. This is great for rose
gold as diamonds with yellow color hues are usually more expensive than those
with brown hues.
Which color grades
are best for rose gold rings?
We mentioned above that the stone’s shape
matters in choosing the color grade for a rose ring’s diamond. That’s because
different diamond cuts “show” their color differently and some cuts are better
than others at hiding their slight color hues. So, we’ve divided the more
popular diamond cuts into three groups:
1. Round cut diamonds and rose gold
Check out round diamonds here
The round cut is the most popular ring diamond
cut – more so than all other diamond cuts combined. There are lots of great
reasons for that but we won’t go into them here. As far as color is concerned,
round cut diamonds hide their color hues pretty well and that gives you even
more freedom in how low you can go on the diamond color scale.
For a round cut diamond in a rose gold
setting, we’d suggest diamonds in the H to M range. Yes, with
this combination you can easily go as low as the bottom of the “Faint Color”
grades and still end up with a stunningly beautiful ring. Anything after M will
likely not look too good, however, as the stone’s color will be too strong even
for rose gold to mask.
Examples:
- K Color Diamond Halo Ring In Rose Gold Setting
- M Color Diamond Vintage Engagement Ring
2. Princess, Emerald, Asscher, and Radiant cut diamonds and rose gold
See more square cut diamonds here
Color-wise, one of the main differences is
that these cuts show their color much more readily than round cuts. This means
that you can’t go as far down the color scale before the color start becoming
too noticeable.
For the rectangular cuts in rose gold
settings, we’d suggest diamonds in the I to K range. This means
going for one or two grades higher than you would with a round cut but even in
this case the rose gold can give you a lot of leeway in the color grade you can
choose.
Examples:
- J Color Diamond with Twisted Setting
- K Color Diamond with Baguette Side Stones
3. Other fancy diamond cuts and rose gold
See more fancy diamonds here
For most other cuts such as the pear, oval,
cushion or heart-shaped we’d suggest picking either an I or J
color diamond to be on the safe side. Depending on the cut and its quality you
might be able to go a bit lower too but that should be decided on a case by
case basis as these cuts can differ quite a lot depending on their quality.
Wrapping Up…
And there you have it – a nice rose gold
setting can allow you to go multiple color grades lower on the color grading
scale than you would with other metals and still have a stunning diamond which will
work perfectly with the rose gold metal. And again, keep in mind that brown
color tints work even better with rose gold than yellow color. Either way, this
is a great thing to keep in mind when you want to not only save a bit of money
from your budget but to also reinvest them in a bigger or a better-cut stone or
in a fancy pave or halo setting.
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