Rose gold vs. copper

I look at color a lot. Recently, I've seen a lot of this color. It's somewhere in between the iPhone rose gold, a copper (but not too orange like copper can be) and a peachy flesh tone of baroque portraits.

I even got this book recently, and its totally conforms to the color theme. And - come to think of it - this peach pencil for sketching big and bold, but not too harsh lines.

Why this color? And what does it mean?

For an iPhone, the rose gold means luxury. When the phones first came out in gold, they sold out even faster than is usual for Apple. Rose gold did the same. The rose shade may feel even more rare and precious than a "standard" gold, silver or platinum.

Now, this is a toothpaste box. They also recently came out in rose gold, or copper - at Target. This does not speak to me of the same rose gold luxury as the phone, but does remind me of modern copepr kitche utencils, Julia Child's wholesome pottery, and other modern but earthy home-related trends. Combined with the rougher cardboard box, it's just the right touch to make a toothpaste (normally very clinical and plastic-looking) feel interesting.

This is the hardware on my bag. Even though it's still in great shape, it's showing some signs of wear. The sliver metal on the zipper pull has rubbed off, and exposed the copper colored metal uderneath.

This type of wear on a purse is normally undesirable: we interpret it as showing a "worse" metal underneath, and might want to hide it.

Once you realize your ability to see the same color (or any specific quality of an object) as so many different things, with different value interpretations — you can decide for yourself what things mean.