charming trend: rose gold

hello lovelies!  while in new york, i was struck by the ubiquitous use of rose gold in designer jewelry.  introduced to rose gold a few months ago via the {this is glamorous} blog, i recently acquired my first piece, the kate spade women for women bangle that i discussed here.  smitten by it's pinkish hue, i was immediately enchanted by the way the metal looked against my tannish summer skin, and developed a curiosity regarding its origin.

as many of you may know, gold is quite a soft metal, and is generally combined with an alloy to create the harder substance out of which jewelry is crafted, the percentage of pure gold in the metal indicated by karats {i.e. 14 karat, 18 karat, 22 karat}, and in its pure state at 24 karats.  pure gold is generally mixed with equal amounts of silver and copper to achieve a yellow tone {for 14 karat gold, 14 parts gold : 5 parts silver : 5 parts copper}, white gold made by adding more silver, and our rose gold by adding more copper, commonly 75% gold to 21% copper to 4% silver for a lovely pink color.

due to its popularity in the region, rose gold was known as russian gold in the nineteenth century, and although a 'red gold' is fashioned by a ratio of 1:1 gold to copper, 'crown gold,' or highest quality rose gold, combines 22 parts gold to 2 parts copper.  interestingly, highest-quality flutes are often fashioned out of solid rose gold.

i absolutely adore my rose gold bangle, and am very much open to acquiring some other rose gold pieces, such as another michael kors watch {perhaps this one with contrasting navy blue}, but would be apprehensive to purchase a more expensive or important piece in the metal, for example, an engagement ring.  what are your thoughts on rose gold?  do you think it is simply a current fashion trend or worthy of enduring admiration?  during my search for jewelry i also fell in love with the general rose gold palette.  what do you think?  i would love to know your thoughts!  xx hillary

images via pinterest