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Why is it that most men and women today prefer silver jewelry/white gold/platinum to yellow gold, th

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gold jewelry platinum silver
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#21 ·
I don't wear any jewelry except an all SS watch. I don't even wear my wedding band (still married).

That said, silver is the most reflective substance in the universe. It gives so much in appearance it almost looks living. The silver alloys typically used in jewelry are over 90% sliver content and thus remain very reflective. Silver is timeless and sophisticated but also much less expensive. Silver is very reactive but when it corrodes (due to sulfur) the results are also beautiful. It goes exceptionally with any color almost mimicking the color (perhaps only less impressive with yellow).
Silver and its' salts are also extremely antiseptic- bacteria and viruses cannot survive on a silver surface.
Is there anything more beautiful than mother of pearl and silver combined (especially when both represent the surface of a P-08)

Gold is also extremely reflective, only slightly less than silver but when used in jewelry at the highest normal level of 18 k (75% gold), the reflectivity becomes substantially less due to the dull alloying metals (tin, zinc, nickel, chrome, manganese ect. are far less reflective). The up side of gold is that it is virtually immune to corrosion and pure gold is completely 100% bio-compatible (gold rashes are due to high nickel content). Gold also goes exceptionally well with all dark blues (lapis, saphire ect)

Platinum is much harder and dense than both above but quite dull. Also almost immune to any form of corrosion- but who cares it is lifeless. Platinum ( as are all other 5 PGEs) however is substantially rarer than gold or silver and certainly far more difficult and expensive to manufacture.

Never understood white gold and often what we see as being white gold is actually a rhodium (anothe PGE) plating. I view white gold as a half measure, and perhaps only appropriate (for the sake of chemical consistency) when making jewelry of different tone golds.
 
#22 · (Edited)
For myself I prefer to wear yellow gold. I also enjoy and own pieces of jewelry made from silver, rose and white gold but I love the look yellow gold. For me, silver (with the exception of cufflinks) is a metal that should be wore with casual clothing and gold is for more formal occasions. What I enjoy most about gold is the rich and vibrant color that stands out amongst the other garments in your outfit. Gold is warm and bright and adds a bit of flair to an otherwise subtle piece of clothing or more sober outfit. Of the three watches I wear frequently one is a yellow gold plated Movado Museum face, the other is a Croton dress watch with a black lizard strap but has an 18kt yellow gold bezel and crown and my other is a SS Technomarine diving watch. For formal occasions I wear my grandfathers 14kt yellow gold 1940s Benrus watch with gold bracelet. For those who claim that yellow gold can look tacky or gaudy I would say that same can ring true for silver. It depends on the size and detail of the piece. A large 18kt gold diver watch in many cases will look tacky and so does a ridiculously large SS diving watch. I thick gold chain or bracelet and bulky yellow gold ring will look gaudy and ostentatious but so would those same size pieces in silver or white gold. I enjoy wearing my gold school ring, occasionally a thin mariner link chain or my signet ring and a figaro link bracelet if I'm not wearing a watch and they are all yellow gold. As accessories I believe they were meant to stand out a bit from the outfit and add some pop.
 
#23 ·
I think they are all visually/ asethetically ( ? ..sorry ..can't be bothered with spell checker ) dull.

The bling effect would work any colour ....eg. black Amex card .
I can remember looking at a bead of water on a leaf and wondering how magnificent its sparkle and shape was....breathtaking really...a cut diamond next to it would look linear and constrained and maybe should be 2nd to it ( beauty wise) if you looked at it objectively.

All the Inca gold masks that seem to be trotted on the National Geographic every other year or so....look really tacky...if you ask me I ( I know you did'nt...)

Gold is just yuk.
Metallized jaundice.

Besides a spot of online gambling and the odd sausage..(.I might not pray five times or at any time.)...but there that one rule for Muslim men I find effortless to fulfill......Wearing Gold is forbidden .Thank you God...( Allah).
 
#28 ·
This is really similar to the "rules" thread. To me, it's purely a matter of what you like and how it makes you feel. I have one white gold watch (on a bracelet, no less) that irritates one of my sons no end because "it looks like stainless steel". But it's beautiful to me and I love it. I wear a platinum wedding band most days because I love that too, but I also have a thin yellow gold band that I wear when I'm in the mood.

A white metal watch or ring is white regardless of its composition. I'm not convinced I can reliably differentiate SS from platinum or WG - but I don't care. If a piece looks right to me, it's right without ifs, ands or buts.
 
#29 ·
I noticed that it was mentioned that gold rashes were caused by nickel content. I assume that was "white" gold which may have nickel in it.

My wife was never bothered by rashes from her yellow gold chains, but did have a rash problem with a sterling (92.5%) chain that came on a necklace, so we got hypoallergenic silver (without nickel) from www.sabrinasilver.com (Amazon). It is a bit strange, almost white.

I have been bothered from an early age by metal watches, SS, steel, brass, others, so now I use only Titanium watches which are totally accepted by the human body, even more so than surgical steel I understand. By the way there are many kinds of Stainless Steels. Example: Some are magnetic, and others are nonmagnetic.

Of course the plastics they use on those fancy training monitoring watches probably wouldn't be a problem.

On the Titanium chains, watch out, for some come with steel clasps.

www.titaniumstyle.com has only Titanium clasps on their Titanium chains.

I don't know if Tungsten causes rashes or not. Does anyone know?
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
aluminiumfish said:
Besides a spot of online gambling and the odd sausage..(.I might not pray five times or at any time.)...but there that one rule for Muslim men I find effortless to fulfill......Wearing Gold is forbidden .Thank you God...( Allah).
Click to expand...
ostpl said:
I too am thankful for gold being haraam (forbidden). Forbidden or not, I never liked the look of gold, especially the very orange higher karat variety.
Click to expand...
Just out of interest, why is gold forbidden by Islam?
 
#32 ·
Gold is only forbidden for men....
Why...I am pretty clueless about my religion to be honest....

I think it was to stop a Vanity based arms race ....
pushing people ..men into burrowing just to buy Gold to impress...
( Gold ..usury ..closely linked )

whereas ..women were hidden and the problem did'nt exist so much....

Thats just my guess
 
#33 ·
aluminiumfish said:
Gold is only forbidden for men....
Why...I am pretty clueless about my religion to be honest....
Click to expand...
Islamic men are forbidden by clear instructions from the deity not to wear gold or pure silk, although silver is permitted as (I think) are fabrics with some silk in the blend. I've read interpretations suggesting that this is intended to support differentiation of the basic nature of men (hard, warrior etc) from that of women. But I'm Jewish and certainly not an Islamic scholar.

Each religion has such prohibitions, and they stimulate thought and controversy anew with each successive generation. For example, we're forbidden to have permanent tattoos, allegedly because of the biblical words "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves".

It's fascinating how fashion can adapt to cultural change. I assume that white gold and platinum are acceptable for many men whose religious dictates forbid yellow gold. But I'll bet there are debates about whether 14k gold is acceptable because it's almost half other metals.
 
#34 ·
The reason is the cultural revolution of the 1960s. Compared to the 'old school' of gold, silver seems 'progressive and trendy', just like a blazer with gold buttons vs. an art student's blazer and jeans with silver.
 
#35 ·
bluesman said:
Islamic men are forbidden by clear instructions from the deity not to wear gold or pure silk, although silver is permitted as (I think) are fabrics with some silk in the blend. I've read interpretations suggesting that this is intended to support differentiation of the basic nature of men (hard, warrior etc) from that of women. But I'm Jewish and certainly not an Islamic scholar.

Each religion has such prohibitions, and they stimulate thought and controversy anew with each successive generation. For example, we're forbidden to have permanent tattoos, allegedly because of the biblical words "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves".

It's fascinating how fashion can adapt to cultural change. I assume that white gold and platinum are acceptable for many men whose religious dictates forbid yellow gold. But I'll bet there are debates about whether 14k gold is acceptable because it's almost half other metals.
Click to expand...
Oh yah....
I forgot about silk....which is cool..because I hate silk on my skin..
My cotton shirt on the other hand is a separate matter....it has penchant for silk ties beyond my control...

But actually this is quite an interesting subject...
I have a theory about the Jewish non-kosher nature of Linen- wool mixes..
I believe most taboos are based on a slither of sense.....

In this case..I would say that linen could remain damagingly damp when allied with wool...which can hold loads of moisture without feeling wet...
Hence the mixture would rot more quickly...
And therefore ..such a mixture would be considered non-kosher...
Mixing would lower costs...as I assume they would be priced differently...
Without central heating....i could imagine the wool remaining quite laden with moisture for long periods...enough to make a problem if mixed with linen ( which likes water ...but not if mixed with body bacteria )

Hence some sense in the old scriptures....
 
#38 ·
OldMilitary said:
I noticed that it was mentioned that gold rashes were caused by nickel content. I assume that was "white" gold which may have nickel in it.

My wife was never bothered by rashes from her yellow gold chains, but did have a rash problem with a sterling (92.5%) chain that came on a necklace, so we got hypoallergenic silver (without nickel) from www.sabrinasilver.com (Amazon). It is a bit strange, almost white.

I have been bothered from an early age by metal watches, SS, steel, brass, others, so now I use only Titanium watches which are totally accepted by the human body, even more so than surgical steel I understand. By the way there are many kinds of Stainless Steels. Example: Some are magnetic, and others are nonmagnetic.

I don't know if Tungsten causes rashes or not. Does anyone know?
Click to expand...
Yellow gold can have alot of Nickel alloyed as well. Obviously the greater the gold content the less likely you are to have any allergic reaction.

Titanium allthough not any more attractive than other common metals, can be made into attractive objects just like SS, Aluminum, Monel,
Tungsten ect. can. Absolutely not directed at anyone here but I find titanium exceedingly over hyped by the media and hollywood which in a way does it some disservice because its advantages become overlooked.

Titanium has 2 outstanding characteristics and strength is not one of them. The first is extremely poor conductivity and the second is low coefficient of thermal expension ( it doesn't change shape alot with temperature changes). These two things make it absolutely ideal for use in and on the human body. All other metals including the ones that are far stronger and more resistent to corrosion have too much conductivity. Titanium is also extremely plentiful and with the newer Cambridge prodcution process will allow it to be used everywhere it should be used (cars, planes, bikes, roof tiles, cladding ect) since it is lighter than steal or SS and can end up cheaper than SS with new process (since SS relies on expensive alloying metals) and would be stronger than aluminum.

True there is a world of different Stainless Steals. Some have much lower corrosion resistence (martensitic) and some have incredible resistence (super duplex).
 
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