Recently I was fortunately enough to acquire a solid white gold watch. The 18K white gold used is known in the industry as grey gold. It is an alloy that is 75% gold, mixed with a combination of white and silver metals, including palladium, silver, and platinum, to achieve a uniform warm whitish grey color. It is the same color throughout, and so unlike the older style of white gold (which is actually plated yellow gold), it is not plated with a layer of rhodium.

Initially, to my eyes, white gold looked like stainless steel. Sure, when comparing side by side directly with steel, there is a difference in color - the white gold is warmer in hue. But when seen on its own, it’s nearly impossible to tell the difference. Over the next few weeks, as I spent more time with it daily on my wrist, under various lighting conditions, I have come to appreciate the unique optical properties of the precious metal alloy. The way it plays with light, especially natural sunlight, is distinctively different from steel. The warmth of the yellow gold, which makes up 3/4th of the material after all, comes to the surface. Under certain conditions the normally white metal would appear almost yellow.

I don’t fully understand the physics behind this. Maybe gold scatters the natural spectrum of light in more complex ways than steel. But what I do understand now is why people pay a premium for precious metal jewelry. And dare I say - at the risk of sounding superior and pretentious - it is not something that can truly be understood unless you’ve had a good amount of hands-on experience with them.

There is a reason that the iconic fluted bezel of Rolex watches is made of 18K gold, even on models that are otherwise fully stainless steel. There is a reason that on the highest tier of luxury watches (such as those made by A. Lange & Söhne), the dial, hands, and indexes are made of gold. The appearance of the metal is just ever so subtly, but definitely, different. It may not always be obvious, but in certain situations, the shine is unmistakably more eye catching compared to steel or rhodium. Most people may spot the effect without realizing why or thinking too much about it.

Who cares, many people will ask, who’s really going to notice anyway? True, even though I’ve learned to tell the visual differences between white gold and steel, they are still small. In most situations, almost nobody will be able to catch the difference. This is one of the reasons that white gold and platinum jewelry is often not as popular as their yellow gold counterparts - they are easily mistaken for cheaper materials such as silver and steel. And I agree, for those who don’t care, it matters little.

Yet to those who do care, these subtle differences are everything, and they form an essential part of what we call “taste”. Of course it goes way beyond watches and applies to anything in life. Not everyone cares about metals with slightly different hues, but for everyone, there is at least something to care about the subtleties for, some area of interest where our true passions lie. In wine tasting, non-experts like myself may find two bottles from a similar region taste the same; but to the seasoned sommelier who is able to appreciate the finer details, even the same vineyard a few years apart can be quite different. For a jacket, a slightly altered stitching pattern may completely escape my eyes; but to the fashionista, they couldn’t be more different. A small pinch of salt added to a dish, a slightly curvier font, the list goes on…

These small differences that enthusiasts obsess over seem completely overblown and insane to the regular person, but it is exactly the deliberate discernment and appreciation of these subtle differences that make life interesting. This arbitrary, whimsical distinction we draw in our minds, between what otherwise are “pretty much the same thing”, is what makes us human - only conscious beings are capable of developing this. In some ways, subtle differences are the only things that matter.