THE GILDED AGE

Deemed the purest expression of the precious metal, yellow gold sees a renewed popularity.

- MINDY TEH

Yellow gold is enjoying a brand new glow. Its gleam has found a resurgence of late, thanks to the new techniques and craftsmanship that has revitalised the precious metal with a contemporary edge.

The gold chain, for example, is now transformed from the ubiquitous yellow gold offerings at the local jewellery store, or its heavy-duty hip-hop associations, to decidedly more inventive and spectacular haute joaillerie pieces paired with precious stones in unique, majestic settings.

Gold has always been held in the highest esteem, the adornment of Egyptian pharaohs, Chinese emperors and French kings. The 90s, however, may have marked yellow gold's slight dip in popularity with younger customers opting for other precious metals including platinum, rose and white gold. This could be attributed to the new designs employed in these materials at the time. Another theory is that Gen X-ers - the young adults of that era - wanted to disassociate themselves from what they perceived as the excesses of '70s glam and disco, '80s yuppie culture, or simply too "bling" a metal to show.

Of course, that's not to say that yellow gold's appeal- or value - has ever waned. As LL Cool J, himself a proponent of yellow gold, once rapped: "Don't call it a comeback!".

Gold has never left us. It continues to be valued as sacred and pure, making it the natural precious metal to represent a love everlasting, with wedding jewellery - rings, bangles, necklaces - still presented and forged in yellow gold.