Silver and gold: a meeting of light and warmth
The interplay of different metals in jewellery reaches far back into history. For centuries, many workshops preferred to set diamonds in silver, because the cool whiteness of a well polished silver surface strengthened a diamond’s brightness. This preference was strongest for diamonds, while coloured gemstones were more often set in gold. When silver was finished to a high polish, it could look almost mirror like, so that the boundary between metal and stone seemed to dissolve. Yet silver, noble though it is, does tarnish and can stain skin or fabric. To protect the wearer and clothing, goldsmiths often made the back in gold, keeping silver only where it served the stones, often adding details in yellow or red gold for the settings of other gemstones.
In many such jewels, especially those set with rose cut diamonds or other gems, the stones sat above a thin foil, sometimes coloured, to intensify sparkle or gently shift colour. These foiled settings were closed at the back, creating a small chamber where light met craft. It is often said that foil helped stones glow by candlelight. Romantic as that sounds, electric light had not yet been invented, so what other light could these stones have been meant to shine by, if not candlelight and other flame based light.
This quiet marriage of metals, silver to the eye and gold to the touch, became a hallmark of refinement. It was more than technique; it was a quiet pact between beauty and practicality, between light and protection.
The Beauty of Timeworn Silver
When we encounter antique silver jewellery darkened by time, we often mistake this patina for its intended look. In its youth, silver shone like moonlight, polished to such perfection that the line between metal and diamond seemed to disappear. What now seems aged and subdued once gleamed with a cool, pure light. Through wear and long exposure to air, silver’s brightness dimmed, not by neglect but by time itself.
Platinum: The White Flame of Innovation
As jewellers grew accustomed to layered metals, the practice evolved. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, platinum increasingly replaced silver as the preferred white metal for diamond settings, a noble metal prized alongside gold which does not tarnish in normal wear. Its cool whiteness and strength enabled designs of unprecedented delicacy, where diamonds seemed to hover upon a web of light. Yet silver did not vanish overnight. Well into the mid twentieth century, many workshops continued to use it, each guided by its own balance of cost, craftsmanship, and aesthetic preference. Some embraced platinum’s purity. Others trusted silver’s familiar glow, a reminder that innovation in jewellery has never followed a single rule.
A practical reading clue is to look at a jewel from the side. In many two metal constructions, the thinner layer often points to the metal that was more costly or more strategically used at the time, while the thicker layer provided structure or comfort. In gold backed silver work, the silver front can be noticeably thicker, while the gold back may be surprisingly thin. When platinum enters, the balance can reverse, with a comparatively thin platinum setting above a more substantial gold body behind. This is not a universal rule, but it is a helpful first observation when you are dating and assessing construction.
The Fire That Forged a New Era
The use of platinum in jewellery required new mastery. With a melting point of about 1,768 degrees Celsius, it demanded a hotter flame than traditional goldsmithing. Only with the development of high temperature blowpipes and, later, oxygen fuel torches could jewellers work platinum reliably at the bench. Although the oxyhydrogen flame was demonstrated in the late eighteenth century, it took much of the nineteenth century before such equipment became practical in workshops. By the early twentieth century, houses such as Cartier turned this technical achievement into a new aesthetic, making platinum the preferred metal for refined diamond settings. Its rise also carried forward an older workshop habit. Goldsmiths were already used to building jewels in two colours, white above for the diamonds and warmer gold beneath. When platinum entered the bench, that visual grammar was often retained, even though platinum itself does not tarnish and no longer required a gold back to limit staining against skin or fabric.
From Little Silver to Treasured Platinum
Curiously, the story of platinum had begun long before its beauty was recognised. In the sixteenth century, Spanish conquistadors encountered it in South America, yet their furnaces could not melt it. They mistook it for an inferior form of silver, “platina”, or little silver, and cast it aside as worthless. Some even claim it was thrown into the sea or into the harbours, and whenever I tell that story, I can see people thinking they might like to visit those harbours one day. What was once dismissed as waste would, centuries later, become the most desired of metals, a transformation as poetic as it was ironic.
When Purpose Became Art
The pairing of white and yellow or red metals began as a practical solution, but the reason behind it gradually faded. What had once been protection became instinct. Goldsmiths continued to place white above and gold beneath simply because that was how fine jewellery was made. When platinum and later white gold entered the craft, the visual habit endured. Diamonds were still set in white, their brilliance framed by the warmth of yellow or red gold. But there was never one universal rule. Workshops followed parallel paths, shaped by taste, training, circumstance, and the expectations of their clients.
The Retro Revival: Bold Colours, Brave Spirits
The dialogue between metals continued to evolve. During the 1940s, jewellers turned again to gold, not one hue but many. The Retro era rejoiced in the meeting of rose, yellow, and white gold, often woven together in bold sculptural forms. Part of this return was practical: in wartime, platinum was prioritised for military and industrial use and became harder to obtain for jewellery. Yet necessity once more inspired creativity. These jewels seemed to say that strength and elegance could coexist, that even in challenging times, artistry endures.
An Endearing Urban Legend
Not all of platinum’s history sparkles with prestige. In nineteenth century Russia, platinum roubles were minted for a time, and later stories claim that counterfeiters exploited platinum’s weight and density by disguising it beneath a thin layer of gold. What had once been dismissed as worthless now served as deception’s finest tool. Whether fully documented or polished by retelling, the tale is a useful reminder that value depends on trust, and on what a society is able to test and verify. According to an enduring tale, people later cut old roubles in half, hoping to find a secret core of platinum within. Whether truth or legend, such stories remind us how value, like beauty, often depends on time’s perspective, and even if untrue, it remains a wonderfully imagined tale.
Eternal Dialogue of Metals
Each era developed its own metal language, shaped by technique, taste, and what the bench could reliably achieve. Silver and gold, platinum, and later the coloured gold alloys each express different priorities: brightness, warmth, strength, and mood. These choices changed with technology and fashion, yet the aim remained constant, to make light wearable and lasting.
Colours of Gold in French Jewellery
Beyond yellow, white, and rose, French workshops in the early twentieth century explored a broader palette of gold by adjusting the alloy metals within 18 carat gold. Copper rich alloys pushed gold toward rose and red, while higher silver content could produce paler yellow and subtly greenish tones, often described as green gold. In French usage you will also encounter ‘l’or gris’, literally grey gold, referring to white gold alloys whose colour in the metal tends toward pale grey. The bright, almost chrome like white many people associate with white gold is often the result of later rhodium plating, a finish introduced in the early 1930s, then constrained by wartime priorities, and becoming broadly established again in the 1950s. In France, 18 carat gold, marked 750, remained a key reference standard in fine jewellery, with colour controlled by the balance of alloying metals. A celebrated example is Cartier’s Trinity ring, introduced in 1924, uniting yellow, white, and rose gold into one fluid design, and often associated with love, fidelity, and friendship.
Purpose of This Page
This page explains combinations and colours of precious metals within the context of jewellery history and design. It is written from within the jewellery discipline and focuses on what helps the reader see, compare, and interpret jewels, rather than aiming to be a full encyclopaedia. This page forms part of the lecture series “A Journey Through the World of Jewellery” and points towards deeper study through Adin’s jewellery glossary, specialised library, and style overview timeline. Use and sharing for educational purposes are welcomed. If you reference or quote this page, please mention Adin as your source.
Accuracy Note
Every effort has been made to present this information accurately and in line with current historical understanding. Interpretations may evolve as new research becomes available, and readers who notice points for refinement are welcome to share their insights.
Author Attribution
Elkan Wijnberg, Jewellery Historian and Antique Jewellery Specialist – Adin – www.antiquejewel.com