Rose Gold
Gold alloyed with a high proportion of copper, giving a warm pink colour. Harder than yellow gold.
The pink comes entirely from copper. More copper means a redder tone, so shades vary widely between makers.
Copper also hardens the alloy, which makes rose gold more scratch resistant than yellow gold of the same karat.
The colour is in the metal rather than in a plating, so it does not wear off. It can deepen slightly with age as the copper oxidises.
When you are buying
Rose gold flatters warm and olive skin tones, and it sits particularly well against cream and peach pearls. Since shades differ between makers, match pieces in person rather than from photographs.
Yellow Gold
Gold alloyed with silver and copper in balance, keeping its natural warm colour. The traditional Indian choice.
White Gold
Gold alloyed with white metals and then usually rhodium plated. The white you see is a coating, not the metal.
Karat
The purity of gold, measured in twenty-fourths. 24K is pure gold; 22K is 22 parts gold to 2 parts other metal.
Body Colour
A pearl's dominant underlying colour, before any overtone is considered.