Yellow gold back in fashion

Yellow gold is back in fashion according to top jewellers, who are seeing their sales rocket.

Abandoned in favour of silver, white gold and platinum since the 1990s, yellow gold is making a comeback thanks to fashion designers and their celebrity mannequins who are once again embracing the precious metal.

Indeed retail sales of gold jewellery reached a whopping $17.7 billion last year, according to figures from the World Gold Council, and this year's sales are expected to be equally record-breaking.

"For so long, we were so white-metal intensive. Women in their 20s and early 30s were raised on silver," Amanda Gizzi of the Jewellery Information Centre told the Indianapolis Star.

Jewellery designer Kay Wicks from Manhattan-based Shimmer & Stone said she witnessed an enormous revival in yellow gold two years ago with the coming into fashion of Indian-inspired garments.

With yellow gold much cheaper than white gold or platinum, the invigorated demand looks set to continue.