Frequently asked questions

Gold is a natural precious steel consisting of particles which is mined from deep inside the earth’s crust. In their natural form these particles are shiny yellow.

For many centuries BC, the precious metal gold is considered a valuable metal. In ancient times gold symbolized purity and was known for its magical powers. A gold jewel remains beautiful forever. You can always have it repolished by your jeweller.

The original colour of pure gold is shiny yellow. There is also red or rose coloured gold, white gold and champagne coloured (natural white) gold. The red or white colour is defined by the other materials added to the alloy such as copper, silver and palladium. The alloy influences the colour. For instance, 14ct yellow gold has a lighter colour than 18ct, and 14ct red gold looks redder than 18ct red gold.

To make champagne coloured (natural white) gold really white, electrolysis is used to apply a rhodium layer around. Wearing the ring erodes this layer, allowing the original champagne colour to reappear. You can always have the rhodium layer reapplied.

Gold is a valuable precious metal with a high density. As it is really soft, however, it is subject to wear. Signs of wearing the ring such as scratches are inevitable. Gold jewellery can easily be repolished to look like new. Please visit your jeweller. Gold does not oxidize.

The purity of gold is measured in carat. Pure gold is 24 carat. Pure gold is far too soft to work with and would result in an unsolid ring, for that reason an alloy is made in-house. The most common alloys in the Benelux are 18 carat (75% gold or Au750) and 14 carat (58,5% gold or Au585). In Asian countries 22 carat (91,7% gold) is much more the standard. In certain countries 9 carat (37,5% gold or Au375) is not allowed to be called gold as the alloy contains 62,5% other metals. Our gold, platinum and palladium rings bear a maker’s mark and content mark telling you exactly who made them and how much carat gold is in your ring.

Gold keeps its value forever. The price of gold is subject to the fluctuation of international exchange rates and precious metals. For this reason, the selling price can differ from day to day.

You wear your wedding rings as a symbol of your marriage and love for each other, which is invaluable. Furthermore, the price of your wedding rings is of course determined by the composition of the chosen materials, whether or not combined. Very popular at the moment are wedding rings in white gold. Because fine gold of 24K has a yellow colour, a white gold alloy is made first. Wedding rings in white gold therefore consist of a composition of precious metals of which 15% is palladium (Pd950). Due to the high demand for the precious metal palladium, the price has risen enormously and is now above the price of 24K of fine gold. This is probably because palladium is used in the production of cars, mobile phones, TVs and PCs. In order to determine exactly how much your wedding rings are worth, they need to be examined in detail. During this thorough and professional process, all precious metals are evaluated and valued. The width and thickness of the wedding rings determine the weight, so the heavier the ring, the more gold the higher the price and value of the wedding rings will be. Based on these variables, a qualified jeweller can correctly determine the value of your wedding rings. VdB&VR only cooperates with acknowledged jewellers. Take a look at the jewellers page with an overview of our certified jewellers with whom we work and where the collections of VdB&VR are available.