Mixing metals: how to wear gold and silver together
The Jewellery Editor's glossary entry for yellow gold sets out the figures plainly. 24 carat is "considered pure gold but too malleable for jewellery making", 18 carat is 75% gold and 14 carat is 58.3%. So in any gold piece you can actually wear, between a quarter and two fifths of it is not gold. That remainder is what you are looking at when you decide a chain is too yellow, too pale or too pink.
I have made jewellery by hand in London for 22 years, from a stall on Portobello Road to Liberty, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Harrods. The commonest thing I see in a customer's jewellery box is two metals and the habit of only ever wearing one.
What actually sets the colour
Gold is mixed with other metals so it is hard enough to be worn, and the colour is a consequence of that mixing rather than the point of it. The same glossary entry calls yellow "the most hypoallergenic of all gold colours", worth knowing if you react to costume jewellery and have never worked out why.
Silver is not a paler gold but a different metal, and it tarnishes in air where gold does not. That is why a silver chain and a gold one can stop matching after a year: the silver is darkening, the gold is not fading.
Rose is sometimes a colour rather than a metal
On 8 June 2015 Professional Jeweller, in a piece by Rob Corder, reported Pandora setting out what its Rose Collection was made of: "a rose gold colour metal alloy plated in 14ct rose gold", an alloy made up "mainly of copper and silver", the plating there to stop it oxidising and give the pink. Its own wording for the range was "A Unique Blend of Metals".
Worth holding on to. On the high street the word rose can describe a colour as easily as a metal. Ask what a piece is made of rather than what colour it is, and a good answer names the metal and, if it is plated, says what sits underneath.
How to wear two colours at once
The eye reads a ratio, not a rule. Pick one metal to be the main one and let the second appear once or twice, and the mix looks deliberate. Split it evenly and it looks like indecision. What fails most reliably is 2 pieces of similar size and weight in different colours in the same position: 2 chains of the same length, or a bangle on each wrist. Nothing is wrong with either piece. They are just arguing.
Two other things matter more than people expect. Finish beats colour: a high polish next to a brushed or hammered surface reads as mismatched even when both are the same metal. And repetition reads as intent: one gold charm on a silver chain looks accidental, 2 gold notes look like a decision.
The piece that has already decided
The simplest way past all of it is one piece that carries both colours. The Two tone chain bracelet is £140 in all 3 lengths, 5.5in, 6.5in and 7.5in. Its listing describes the design as sterling silver with 18kt gold plated sterling silver, or 14kt white gold with 14kt solid yellow gold. The solid gold version is a separate listing, the Solid Gold Two tone chain, at £545 to £600 by length. The Chain Guide lists standard bracelet lengths.
Once one thing on your wrist carries both, everything else you own is allowed to join in. I notice that is often what people are really buying: permission to stop choosing.
The inherited piece is rarely the colour you wear
Most of the gold I am sent was chosen by somebody born 40 or 50 years before the person who now owns it, which is why so much of it sits in a drawer. There are 3 honest things to do with it: wear it as the accent, have the stones lifted and reset into the metal you actually wear, or have the gold itself used again.
The last two are the Second Life service. As that page puts it, "Inherited rings, loose gemstones, old diamonds, broken chains and odd earrings are all remade by hand in my London studio." Send a photo and I will tell you what it could become and what it would cost. The estimate is free and there is no obligation. If a piece is past remaking, recycling your jewellery gets you a free postage label and a £20 voucher.
Two cheaper ways to test the mix
The Small Initial Charm is £20 in sterling silver and £35 in 18kt gold plated or rose gold plated sterling silver, made to go on a chain you already own. The Star Hoop Earrings are £45 in recycled sterling silver and £55 in gold vermeil or rose gold vermeil, with 14kt solid yellow or white gold at £1,100. The Personalised Initial Disc Necklace is £55 in sterling silver and £65 in gold or rose gold vermeil for a single disc, so you can own one design in whichever colour you are short of.
The second life is the real one. Everything engraved by hand here is in the engraved jewellery collection, and if you are buying for somebody else this month, start in the Christmas gift guide.
Anna Lou x
Common questions
Can you wear gold and silver jewellery together?
Yes, and the only thing that makes it look wrong is balance. Keep one metal as the majority and let the other appear once or twice. A piece that already holds both colours, such as the Two tone chain bracelet at £140, does that work for you.
Is rose gold real gold?
It depends on the piece, which is why it is worth asking. Rose gold can mean solid gold alloyed to a pink colour, or gold plating over sterling silver, or, as Professional Jeweller reported of Pandora's Rose Collection in 2015, a copper and silver alloy plated in 14ct rose gold. None of those is dishonest, but they are not the same thing or the same price. The rose gold vermeil on the Personalised Initial Disc Necklace is gold over sterling silver, and the listing says so.
What can I do with an inherited gold piece I never wear?
Three things, and only one of them is selling it. Wear it as the single warm note against the silver you own, have the stones reset into something you would reach for, or have the gold reused in a new piece. Send a photo through the Second Life page and I will tell you what it could become and what it would cost, at no charge.