Is white gold still hot?

Ron,

    Nonetheless, it is still a game of waiting to see whether it
becomes a permanent fixture in the marketplace. I am already
hearing that glitzy designs are getting tiresome. It's the same
thing with the white gold.......the demand is still there, but it
is predominantly from those who are young and herd oriented,
stylewise. Older customers still cling to yellow because that is
what they grew up with and because that is where their jewelry
collections are. 

Interesting post. I realized that when I had a store in California,
I saw a lot of women’s wedding rings in for repair that were white
gold, from the 40’s and 50’s. My experience was yellow gold was more
popular in the 70’s and 80’s, but that is more where my experience
and frame of reference is.

I moved to Denver in 1990 and opened a retail store, and I believe
that somewhere in the 1990’s, the Platinum Guild started heavily
promoting platinum, and people started coming in and asking for
platinum, but because of financial considerations, white gold was
the metal of choice.

In my opinion, glitzy is always in style. But not at my store. I
make a joke that I make jewelry that you can hike or rock climb
wearing. It is actually accurate for wear I live, there is a huge
population of young people in Colorado who are into hiking, rock
climbing, skiing, snowboarding.

The Cherry Creek, Cherry Hills, Highlands Ranch people definitely
have their glitz. They might have no where to wear it, but they got
it.

And I am sure that the people who live around Pebble Beach,
California, I went there after visiting with you several years ago,
are collecting glitz, except now it is called bling. And National
Jeweler and JCK have lots of famous sports figures, movie stars,
singers and musicians, and Paris or Nikki Hilton with their share.
So, younger people are being trained to desire these things.

Los Angeles (Beverly Hills), New York City, Miami (Palm Beach) are
places that will have social structures and the money to be in
style, and glitz, I believe, always in style. It is not a trend, but
changes llike/with fashion.

I could not for the life of me wear a suit. I do not own one, and it
would be the most uncomfortable way to spent my life. I see men
wearing them every day, and I don’t know how they do it.

I see people who have money and power, and I do not know how they
got it. I see that by acquiring money and power, something they like,
is jewelry, and usually high end pieces, diamond rings, pendants,
bracelets, and earrings. (They also have cars I could not afford).
Would I like the money from these sales. YES! But that is not who I
am, that is not what I do. That would not make me happy. And, at the
same time, God Bless the people who do buy that kind of jewelry, and
God Bless the people who sell it. And God Bless me for what I make,
and the people who respond to it.

I see posts that seem to disparage various forms of materials or
processes, or I see what I perceive as judgment or criticize of use
of these materials for adornment, as if the use implies a lack of
consciousness, or a herd mentality, like the people who have 4000
sq. ft. homes, or the ownership of SUV’s (or HUMMERS), people who
eat meat, people who use fur. But in some way, we all are, I am, in
some way the same. Electricity, everyone wanted it, automobiles,
everyone wanted one, indoor plumbing, everyone wanted it. Computers,
cell phones, Nike, Ipod. Humans acquire and collect, and it is not
an us or them mentality, we all do it to some degree. We are the
herd.

Interesting to note, that people on this forum have prejudice
against materials or processes that are part of the industry, part of
how some of us make money, and yet there is judgment or criticism of
things that are standards of the trade, I.e. rhodium plating and
white gold, plated or not.

Today I was working at my bench and I realized, a change in fashion,
yellow gold goes out of style, or comes back in, does that not
provide an opportunity for us as jewelers, is that not what keeps us
employed?

I just got the newest issue of JCK, and and there was an
advertisement for palladium wedding bands, and the promotion was that
your customer could get engagement and wedding band for the price of
one white gold band.

Apparently, white is still hot. And if I am not mistaken, that is
the sound of opportunity knocking, not of a herd approaching or
receding. Now, we can choose to be part of it or not, but we should
not complain about it if we choose to not respond. I personally do
not care whether I work in yellow or white gold, or platinum, or
although I have not worked in palladium, apparently there is a
material I need to investigate for the possibility of offering a new
choice to my customers. Times change and I respond or suffer the
consequences. This is the profession I chose.

Richard Hart