What Color Metal should I wear?

One of the least-successful ways to “self-diagnose” your seasonal color palette is to compare gold and silver jewelry. When I see people doing this online, they usually snap a quick photo of themselves in poor lighting, holding up a silver and gold earring simultaneously with the query, “Warm or cool??” Like much self-diagnostic behavior, this is a shotgun approach which rarely lands on target.

The first issue here is that only the “true” seasons (True Winter/True Summer and True Spring/True Autumn) show a strong preferential affinity for cool or warm metals. Within a 12-season system, which is more precise and accurately describes more of the human population, only 4 of 12 seasons are purely cool or purely warm. The rest are neutral-cool or neutral-warm, falling somewhere between the extremes. If only 4 seasons are visibly enhanced by either gold or silver, that leaves 8 seasons with more gray area.

To make things even more complex, each of the 12 seasons has their own unique way to wear metal, and metal becomes merely a shorthand or a single marker of the general characteristics present in the season overall. Soft Autumn, which falls between True Summer and True Autumn, and is influenced by characteristics from both seasons, is a season dominated by colors which can be described as: soft, medium-light, and warm-neutral. 4-season systems might incorrectly simplify things and dictate that a Soft Autumn should wear the same metal tone as its True counterpart, despite being softer, lighter, and cooler than True Autumn.

Can you tell which of the items below are fully warm, and which ones are neutral-warm?

Top Row, L to R: brassy gold (warm), rosegold (neutral-warm), soft silver and rosegold (neutral-warm), soft gold (neutral-warm), yellow gold (warm), bronze (neutral-warm)

Most people do not have such a large range of types and tones of metals represented in their jewelry box.. I find that people will gravitate towards one metal tone in their wardrobe, and it often has nothing to do with their true color season, but rather their aesthetic tastes and what was trendy at the time they started shopping with their own money.

Staying with our Soft Autumn example, the season wears brushed rosegold, softened light gold, light greenish gold, and some lighter, brushed tones of silver easily. A woman with Soft Autumn coloring would not gain meaningful information from holding one brassy yellow gold earring and one chrome-silver one next to her face. Her best tones of metal all fall somewhere between the two extremes of a very warm or very cool metal tone. Thus, the comparison is neither precise nor meaningful. This was merely one example. Each of the 12 seasons has a unique selection of metals that works best with their individual palettes!

Metals for All 12 Seasons

Please note that where metal ratings are given, these are meant to serve as a guideline for visual color selection, not quality. It is possible to purchase gold that appears to match 18k gold in tone, regardless of the actual material contents.

True Winter Metals:

As a truly cool season, True Winter should avoid any warm-toned metals such as gold and rosegold. Choose silver, palladium, white gold, platinum, and stainless steel OR titanium, gunmetal, pewter, and antique silver for a darker look. White gold turns a soft yellow over time, and should be refinished with rhodium plating to restore its cool white brilliance for True Winter.

Select high-shine or satin finishes, in either smooth or hammered textures. Avoid matte or brushed textures, as they can look busy among the tranquil, powerful tones of Winter.

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Bright Winter & Bright Spring Metals:

As neutral bright seasons, Bright Winter and Bright Spring share metal tones. On the warm side, choose yellow gold that matches 10k and 14k rating in tone—these are mildly warm, and more suited to your coloring than intense yellow gold. On the cool side, opt for platinum and all types of white gold. Use caution with silver, as it can become antique and tarnished over time and give a duller appearance than the Bright seasons require. Rosegold with a light and bright pink tone is suitable, but avoid any with a darker orange or copper appearance.

Select high-shine or satin finishes, in either smooth or hammered textures. Hammered and high shine is an exceptional combination for the Bright Seasons, as it has a reflective and energetic quality. Avoid matte or brushed textures.

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True Spring Metals:

As a truly warm season, True Spring should avoid any cool-toned metals such as silver and white gold. Choose yellow gold from 10k all the way up to 24k, as you can handle the high degree of warmth. Rosegold of all shades is also wonderful. Gold or rosegold "vermeil,” cheaper metal with a thin coating of surface metal, is often excellent on you as it tends to look very warm and bright.

Select high-shine or satin finishes, in either smooth or hammered textures. Avoid matte or brushed textures.

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Light Spring & Light Summer Metals:

As neutral light seasons, Light Spring and Light Summer share metal tones. On the warm side, choose yellow gold that matches 10k and 14k rating in tone—these are mildly warm, and more suited to your coloring than intense yellow gold. On the cool side, opt for a full range of white gold, platinum, and palladium. Use caution with silver, as it can become antique and tarnished over time and give a duller appearance than the Bright seasons require. Rosegold with a light and bright pink tone is suitable, but avoid any with a darker orange or copper appearance.

Select satin finishes, in either smooth or brushed textures. These are subtle and lightweight in feel, in keeping with both palette’s qualities.

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True Summer Metals:

As a truly cool season, True Summer should avoid any warm-toned metals such as gold and rosegold. Choose silver, white gold, palladium, platinum, pewter, titanium, and antique silver. True Summer also wears metals with colorful patina effects beautifully. Choose blue, purple, and pink colors—often rendered in titanium material.

Select matte, satin, or brushed finishes, and embrace high levels of texture with hammered, sandblasted, or stone finish. True Summer thrives with a variegated surface that implies movement. Light, bright, high-shine finishes are not as effective.

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Soft Summer & Soft Autumn Metals:

As neutral soft seasons, Soft Summer and Soft Autumn share metal tones. On the warm side, choose yellow gold that matches 10k and 14k rating in tone—these are mildly warm, and more suited to your coloring than intense yellow gold. On the cool side, opt for a full range of white gold, platinum, pewter, and silver. Rosegold which can be classified as soft pink or muted copper, and lighter tones of bronze and copper also work well. The soft seasons wear metals with colorful patina effects easily. Choose shades of green, pink, or purple patina, and look for these colors in titanium material especially.

Select satin and matte finishes, in in smooth, hammered, and brushed textures.

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True Autumn Metals:

As a truly warm season, True Autumn should avoid any cool-toned metals such as silver and white gold. Choose yellow gold from 14k all the way up to 24k, as you can handle the high degree of warmth. Bronze, brass, and copper are worn uniquely well by True Autumn, and look even better on you with age and a little wear. Turquoise, dark green, and orange patina effects may be successful.

Select high shine, satin, or matte finishes, in smooth, hammered, and brushed textures, but the more texture the better.

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Deep Autumn & Deep Winter Metals:

As neutral deep seasons, Deep Autumn and Deep Winter share metal tones. On the warm side, choose yellow gold that ranges from 10k to 18k rating in tone—avoid 22k to 24k as these will look brassy. Antiqued bronze is another warm metal that works; opt only for olive green tones and avoid orange tones. On the cool side, select from white gold, pewter, and antique silver. Avoid brighter, whiter cool metals like platinum or brand-new silver. Strong weathering effects such as black patina are exceptional for the deep seasons, and this season wears mixed metals within a single piece of jewelry the best.