[Jewelry making - Article 00121] - Re: [Orchid] Is White gold realty hot?

[Gene Rozewski]

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Hello to all!

    There seems to have been a lot of discussion about white gold, or
    more appropriately white metals, recently. The popularity of white
    gold, platinum, silver and palladium is not an overnight phenomenon.
    From my standpoint, white metals have been gaining in popularity for
    the past 15 years, just about when the PGI started its major push for
    Platinum. Today, the vast majority of bridal merchandise, and a
    substantial portion of other jewelry, is white metal. 

    Why? That's because it's what the consumer wants. Today. 

    I have the advantage of having been in the jewelry industry for
    quite a while. Longer than I care to admit! One thing that I've
    learned is...Jewelry is fashion...fashion is history...and history
    repeats itself. 

    Platinum jewelry was very popular before World War II. During the
    war and subsequent years, platinum, along with chromium and other
    white metals, was declared a strategic metal and restricted to
    military use. As a result, yellow gold once more became the obvious
    metal of choice for jewelry. Then white gold was developed and white
    metal regained its popularity only to be replaced by, you guessed it,
    yellow gold. And the cycle continues today with white gold's
    popularity. While neither color will ever, in my opinion, be
    completely removed from the jewelry scene, there will always be a
    general consumer preference for one color or the other, sometimes
    with a two-tone or tri-color transition period. 

    Yellow will once again become the color of choice for jewelry and
    bridal in the future. Just like fashion right now is reliving (at
    least for me) the 60's. Straight leg pants (we used to call them
    bellbottoms), the dark brown color in women's clothing, the retro
    Mustang. Even earlier times with the HHR and PT Cruiser, Hemmingway
    and Bogart inspired furniture. The Right Hand Ring seems little more
    than a 00's interpretation of the 50-60's cocktail ring. Have you
    noticed tie-dye made a come back? 

    As for the metals themselves, I don't believe there is a perfect
    metal. Each one has advantages and disadvantages. There will always
    be a demand for each color and all metals, just sometimes stronger
    and sometimes weaker. However, I do feel that 950 Palladium is going
    to be a strong contender in the white metal arena. We've recently
    released our 950 Palladium catalog supplement which features an
    extensive line of 950 Palladium products. Palladium answers many of
    the questions that the jeweler and the consumer have about white
    gold such as color and workability. It also helps the jeweler
    differentiate themselves from their competition. While some
    companies are happy to remain status quo, R*Findings chooses to be
    pro-active in the ever changing jewelry industry. Several of my
    customers have made the commitment to palladium with many more
    testing palladium products before the upcoming holiday season. The
    Palladium Alliance International, www.luxurypalladium.com, has also
    been formed to promote the use of palladium in jewelry, similar to
    what the Platinum Guild does for platinum. 

    Keep in mind: Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. 

Gene Rozewski
R*Findings
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