Red gold is a gold alloy consisting of fine gold, copper and possibly some silver,
to improve the mechanical workability. The relatively high copper content, which is significantly higher than that of silver, is responsible for the "red" colouring and hardness of the material that gives it its name. The colour tone is similar to copper. Red gold is wonderfully suited as a very high-contrast material in relation to silver or palladium, in the manufacture of hand-forged Mokume Gane wedding rings. Certain gold shades are popular in certain regions; Eastern and Southern Europe, for example, tends to accept the darker and more colourful reddish gold alloys. Colloquially, red gold was also called Russian gold in the GDR; in some cases, the term Turkish gold is still in use in southern Germany. Note on "Russian gold": This gold has the unusual fineness of 583 and can be recognised very well by this. The colouring is also slightly lighter than that of modern red gold.
