Gold alloys, fineness and carat
Pure gold is intensely yellow and comparatively soft. For rings it is alloyed with other metals, changing its colour, hardness, working properties and fine-gold content.
What 585 and 750 mean
The number gives the fine-gold content in parts per thousand. 750 gold contains 750 parts gold by weight—75 per cent. Carat divides the gold content into 24 parts: 18 carat equals 750 gold.
20 carat would correspond to approximately 833 parts per thousand; 900 gold is correctly calculated as 21.6 carat.
Gold colours
Yellow gold
A higher fine-gold content generally creates a richer yellow tone.
Rose and red gold
Copper shifts the colour from delicate rose to a distinctly warm red.
750 hazelnut gold
This MVH alloy combines 75 per cent fine gold with a restrained warm brown-gold tone—less yellow than classic yellow gold and quieter than red gold.
Platinum and palladium
Platinum 960
Naturally light in colour and very dense. Platinum 960 contains 96 per cent platinum by weight.
Palladium 500 and 960
A naturally light platinum-group metal, lighter and slightly darker in tone than platinum. MVH uses different palladium alloys depending on construction and design.