The trend for using rose gold for jewelry and other accessories emerged in 19th century Russia. So popular was this metal that it gained the name of “Russian gold” and was soon the fashion for Victorians in England and Western Europe. White gold found its place around 1917 as a substitute for platinum.
Developed by the Belais Bros. of New York who were regarded as being the American originators of a formula for white gold in the early part of the 20th century, they experimented for thirty years before introducing their white gold in 1917. In fact, advertisements of the 1920s sometimes mention settings using the material as "18k Belais” rather than as "white gold.”