Rose Gold
Although we normally think of gold as being yellow it can be formed in other colours when alloyed with different metals. This is the process behind rose gold - sometimes known as pink or red gold. Historically it was also called Russian gold.
What Is Rose Gold?
Rose gold is an alloy formed from gold and copper. The copper imparts a pink or red hue to the gold, the depth of the colour depends on the proportion of copper in the alloy. Rose gold commonly consists of 75% gold and 25% copper however the numbers vary. Rose gold with a very small amount of copper is known as crown gold. Personally I think of this as like having a very dry martini!Since copper is less expensive than gold you would expect rose gold to be more affordable than the ordinary yellow version. However this is offset by the rarity of the alloy - you may have to shop around even to find the jewelry you want in rose gold, let alone at an affordable price.
Rose gold is especially popular for rings, in particular engagement and wedding bands. It's sometimes used to form the heart of a Celtic Claddagh ring. Rose gold can also look stunning when paired with white gold.
Purity
Note that since rose gold is an alloy it can never be totally pure gold: you can't buy pure 24 karat rose gold. It doesn't exist. "The standard" mix of 25% copper gives an 18 karat gold (three quarters of eighteen). A slightly darker 14k mix is also popular. Some of the rose gold you can buy on the stores also includes a little silver in the mix which affects both the colour and the karat rating.