How to keep Nana on trend: with rose gold

What do you call your grandmother? Nana? Grandma? Gigi? Mimi? I called my grandmother Oma, which is grandma in German. Except when she was working, Oma always wore pearl studs, a string of pearls, a watch and a broach (a.k.a. pin), as many women of a certain age did back then. One of these broaches--simple, rose gold and uber modern even now--and the string of pearls and pearl studs were handed down to me when Oma passed. Searching through my jewelry box a couple of months ago, I pulled the broach (it’s actually two pieces, a pair of 1” arcs that can be styled in different ways) out of its compartment to admire. I realized Oma would have been so on point style-wise if she were still here! Rose gold has been riding a wave of popularity that shows no sign of slowing down. I’m sure Oma would have loved the rose gold jewelry currently available, especially the bracelets with engraved charms representing children and grandchildren. There are so many wonderful gifts for grandma and gifts for mom these days.

What is rose gold?

Typically, rose gold is 14 karat or 18 karat yellow gold with additional alloys, like silver or copper, added. Rose gold is the catch-all name for red, pink and rose gold. The greater the concentration of copper, the stronger the red hue. Here’s a look at the most common rose gold alloy combinations (courtesy of Nature’s Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements by John Emsley):

18K Red gold: 75% gold, 25% copper

18K Rose gold: 75% gold, 22.25% copper, 2.75% silver

18K Pink gold: 75% gold, 20% copper, 5% silver

12K Red gold: 50% gold and 50% copper

Why rose gold?

Rose gold is showing up EVERYWHERE, from tumblers and cups (Starbucks) to eye make-up (Maybelline) to sneakers (Vans) to watches to necklaces to the iPhone, and beyond.

There’s a reason rose gold has made a jewelry comeback. “Rose gold disappears against the skin, is more discreet than yellow or white gold, brings warmth to the creation,” jewelry designer Claire Choisne told The New York Times. We couldn’t agree more. While some people think they’re either a gold person or a silver person, the blush tones of rose gold are flattering to practically every skin tone. The warm hue of rose gold is elegant and timeless.

Consider this: If you’re thinking about gifts for grandma, rose gold is a great option if she already has a complete yellow gold and silver jewelry wardrobe (although, I’m sure you’ll agree there’s no such thing as too much jewelry, regardless of the material!).

Here are some rose gold jewelry ideas:

A gift from the grandkids…

The Best Grandma Ever bracelet…

Customized engraving (we make a forever keepsake of your loved-ones handwriting)…

How to wear rose gold

Women from Oma’s generation stuck to a pretty rigid rule of not mixing metals (they also matched their shoes to their bags. Every. Single. Day.). Today, anything goes. In fact, contrasting rose gold with other metals, like yellow gold, sterling silver and platinum, can be quite stunning.

At the start of the nineteenth century, rose gold was known as Russian gold because it was so popular amongst Russian royalty. Today, the term Russian gold refers to a matte electroplated finish used on costume jewelry.

Like other gold, rose gold jewelry doesn't tarnish.

It’s estimated that around 165,000 tons of gold have been mined out of the earth throughout history.

Gravel and quartz deposits are the sources of about 80% of our gold.  

Pure gold is 24 karats and usually too soft to use in jewelry.  

A karat is a unit of purity for gold; a carat is a unit of weight for gemstones.

White gold (mixed with nickel), blue gold (mixed with indium), purple gold (mixed with aluminum), green gold (mixed with silver) and black gold (mixed with cobalt) are other types of gold.