WTF is Hypoallergenic White Gold?

palladium white gold stacker rings with topaz and diamonds

Hypoallergenic white gold

Do you love the look of white gold but are allergic to nickel? No worries, metallurgical chemists have you covered with palladium white gold. How the what?! Instead of using nickel to make the gold white, palladium can be substituted. The color is a nice whitish-khaki that doesn’t need to be rhodium plated (so less maintenance and less cost over time). The alloys (both 14k and 18K) are good for casting, fabrication techniques and stone settings. 

Palladium is number 46 on the periodic table and one of the 6 metals in the platinum family (if you’re feeling nerdy the others are: platinum, ruthenium, iridium, rhodium and osmium). It isn’t as brittle as nickel so it makes a great substitute to whiten gold. It can be used without gold in it’s own palladium alloy- though personally I like the color of it with gold better. 

These custom stacker rings were made for a client who is allergic to nickel but loves the look of white gold.