United colours of gold

Pink and green gold jewellery items are the hot favourites, but grey gold is also popular, says Shivani Jayaram

White and yellow gold pieces are considered fashionable and have become popular in bridal jewellery

If the 1990s saw the advent of light-weight jewellery for everyday wear, the present trend is coloured gold ornaments matching with clothes and probably bag and sandals.

Gold that’s gold in colour is boring. Gold that’s pink, green, red or grey is happening. Says Mumbai-based jewellery designer Poonam Soni: "Women are bored of gold jewellery. That looks the same as it has always looked. Colours are adding excitement to it. Pink and green gold are the hot favourites, but grey gold is also extremely popular."

In case you haven’t guessed it already, coloured gold makes for versatile accessory and can be teamed with western or traditional outfits. What’s more, combinations of colours are also emerging as a strong trend. "Two-tone designs in white and yellow gold, too, are strong at the moment,’’ says Kaertick Mehta, jewellery designer from Calcutta.

To keep the classic appeal of yellow gold, many women are opting for two-tone styles that combine white and yellow gold within the same piece. These types of pieces are considered very fashionable and have become particularly popular in bridal jewellery in recent years. For an even more original look, some women are choosing jewellery which combines three colours of gold (most often yellow, rose and green) known as Black Hills Gold within the same piece.

"Internationally coloured gold is becoming a rage and we are now beginning to witness this shift in India,'' says Bhuwan Gaurav, northern India head of leading jewellery manufacturers Tanishq.

However, Ajay Mehra of Delhi’s Mehrasons Jewellers is sceptical: "The idea of tinted gold does not really appeal to Indian customers. Coloured gold, I believe, is for a select clientele".

As yet few ladies are aware that there are some attractive colours of gold available besides the regular white gold. Purple, black and blue are some of the exotic gold colours that come to mind. Using production techniques like intermixing metals or creating a coloured layer on normal carat gold, jewellery is today available in many tantalising colours. Gold with red shades—red, pink, rose or rust – is got by adding silver and copper to gold. The more the copper, the redder the gold. Green gold is an alloy of gold and silver with absolutely no copper. Purple gold is gold plus aluminium. Clear blue gold is an alloy of gold and a metal called indium; and adding gallium brings a slight bluish tinge to gold.

Rose gold, which lends itself to wearing with copper tones, is an autumn colour trend.`A0A subtle warm rose gold is the 2008 new fashion colour for gold.`A0 Out of favour for many years, rose gold has gained a new following from a generation unfamiliar with
the metal.

So, is coloured gold impure gold? In a way, yes. Coloured gold can be eight to 22 carats (from 37.5 per cent to 91.6 per cent of gold). Here whereas yellow gold has 91.67 per cent (22 carat) and 75 per cent (18 carat), most of the coloured gold has only 75 per cent gold, and green/red gold only 50 per cent.

What are the major problems in buying and wearing coloured gold ornaments? The first problem that may affect some buyers with allergies is due to the composition of the particular coloured gold. Most gold colouring processes are patented by a few big companies which keep the facts hidden from the general public. With a variety of patented alloys used in the making of these gold colours, there is a special reason for concern for people with sensitive skin that is prone to skin allergies.

Given the fact that today few jewellers, other than big firms in metros, actually make purple gold jewellery or jewellery using black or blue gold, it would be quite difficult to find a jeweller to modify your coloured gold jewellery. Resizing or other repairs would become expensive even after finding a jeweller willing to take up the task. This does not refer to white gold and yellow gold jewellery that is worked on all over the world.

Last but not the least is the fact that coloured gold jewellery cannot be broken to make natural gold jewellery. — MF

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