Are Yellow Gold Engagement Rings Tacky?
With the number of ring metal options available today, the traditional yellow gold engagement ring might not seem like it’s so popular anymore. In fact, some might think it old-fashioned and thus tacky for modern relationships. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yellow gold is still fabulous, and if there’s anything tacky about a ring, it’s either the specific design or the observer’s opinion.
Yellow Gold Engagement Rings Are Timeless
Gold jewelry is available in a few different colors, from traditional gold to white to pinkish rose gold. Yellow gold is the original; it’s gold’s base color. White, rose, and other colors of gold are alloys, with other metals mixed in. (Rose gold, for example, is copper plus gold.) To call something’s original color tacky is plain odd.
Yellow Gold Engagement Bands Are Still Popular
Yellow gold provides more contrast for any gems the ring holds. Plain yellow gold bands are also unmistakably associated with engagement, especially for men when they wear one on their ring finger. Couples in which the partners are from different cultures that place the engagement ring on different hands often opt for wearing two plain gold bands each, one on each hand. Yellow gold engagement rings are still going strong, and you can observe that in real life if you just watch people for a while. “Tacky” is one person’s opinion.
A Variety Of Yellow Gold Looks
One issue that can muddy the waters is the hue of the gold. Pure gold is too soft for jewelry, especially rings, so gold is mixed with other metals to increase the overall durability and hardness (this also gives the gold its karat rating to indicate purity, such as 18-karat, 14-karat, and so on). With yellow gold alloys, the metals are chosen so that they do not change the color of the gold completely, but they can still affect the hue. Some poorly made gold alloys can be a super-bright yellow, and that hue might look tacky and cheap to some. But it’s not yellow gold itself that’s responsible for that impression.
If someone told you that in general, yellow gold engagement rings are tacky, they might have been trying to sell you something. Or they just wanted to seem like an authority. Unfortunately, they chose the wrong topic.
If the problem is that the specific ring you bought looked bad to the recipient, speak with the person you bought it for and find out if it’s really just the hue that bothers them – and then go look for a more subtle yellow gold. There’s plenty out there!