Today’s wedding jewelry market is so flush with contemporary and precious materials alike that sometimes the original precious metal can be overlooked. We’re talking, of course, about gold. It’s true that gold is not always the most budget-friendly or durable option on the market, but it has been one of the most sought after materials in jewelry making for thousands of years for good reason. Here are four reasons to consider 14K gold wedding bands.
One of the primary reasons that gold has been so highly valued is its incomparable yellow hue. Gold is in fact that only naturally occurring yellow metal, which has made it a prized jewelry material since Ancient Egypt. Symbolically linked to the sun due to its accurate color, gold’s natural malleability allows it to be shaped into a number of intricate designs (more on this in a minute), and makes it an ideal setting for precious gemstones like diamonds. The modern market offers far more options with regard to color and craftsmanship than those available to ancient peoples, and 14K gold wedding bands continue to turn heads with their inherently rich look.
While most shoppers are aware that gold is by nature soft and malleable, few realize that it is actually the most malleable and ductile metal on Earth – gold can literally be pounded into a nearly transparent sheet. Thanks to this incredible flexibility, gold is a jewelry designer’s dream, as well as the perfect canvas for creating ornate designs. As most established jewelers are well-equipped to deal with 14K gold wedding bands, you never need to worry about potentially resizing or otherwise altering your gold ring.
Even though it’s natural yellow color is the image most immediately brought to mind when one thinks of gold, there is a veritable rainbow of options to choose from when purchasing 14K gold wedding bands. Because gold is naturally soft, it must be alloyed with a stronger metal in order to make it more practical for use in jewelry. Experimentation with different alloys has not only lead to increased durability for gold wedding bands, but a number of other popular gold colors as well.
After yellow gold, the most common color seen in 14K gold wedding bands is white gold. White gold is generally created using nickel, silver or palladium as an alloy (or sometimes a combination of white metals). Precious metal palladium is a higher quality alloy and also hypoallergenic, making it a bit pricier than other common alloys but also more appropriate for those with sensitive skin or allergies.
Rose gold is another color of 14K gold wedding bands that is growing in popularity, and has a distinct reddish hue as a result of employing copper as an alloying material. Other colors of gold that are less frequently seen but extremely striking are black gold, gray gold and green gold, though the possibilities for colors of 14K gold wedding bands are virtually limitless.
Even if you’re determined to purchase a gold ring for your wedding band, choosing between the various karat grades can be somewhat daunting. Karat purity reflects the amount of pure gold versus alloy in any given ring; thus, a 10K ring will have around 42% of pure gold present while an 18K ring will have 75% – a big difference! It should be noted that 24K and even 22K gold rings are not frequently seen as they are not very durable and can easily dent.
The beauty of 14K gold wedding bands is that they balance quality with affordability. 10K rings have a distinct appeal for more humble budgets, but they will not have the same richness of color as 14K gold wedding bands, and will likely show signs of wear faster. On the other hand, 18K gold bands can be too far out of budget for most shoppers. Holding a piece of gold’s historical appeal without breaking the bank, 14K gold wedding bands offer the best of all worlds.