Choosing your metal

All of it is solid. No plating, no filler, the same metal on the surface as underneath. That part doesn't change between these. What changes is weight, colour, how it ages, and what it costs.

Silver
92.5% silver. The most affordable way into a piece, and the softest of the four - it picks up marks sooner, and it tarnishes, which is silver reacting with the air rather than anything going wrong. A soft cloth brings it back. If you wear something daily and like a piece that shows its life, silver is honest about that.

Yellow gold
Warmer, heavier, and considerably more valuable - a gold signet hold around seven times the value of a silver one. It doesn't tarnish, and it holds its colour for decades with almost no attention. This is the choice for a piece you expect to still be wearing in twenty years, or handing on to the next generation.

White gold
The same gold, alloyed to sit cooler in colour. Most white gold is rhodium-plated to force it whiter - that plating wears through and needs redoing every few years. Ours isn't plated. So it sits a shade warmer than plated white gold, and it stays exactly that shade for good.

Platinum
The densest and the most valuable. Noticeably heavier on the hand, which people either love or don't. It doesn't tarnish and it doesn't wear away - a scratch pushes the metal aside rather than removing it, so it takes on a soft patina over years instead of thinning.

If you want one recommendation: 10K yellow gold. It's the best balance we've found between quality, affordability and durability - hard enough for daily wear, with the strength to shine for generations to come.

Still deciding? Email hello@westhill-store.com. We'd rather talk it through than have you guess on a four-week lead time.