Anyone regret/dislike their platinum?

[Laila619]

Hi all!

I'm thinking about getting platinum for my next reset. Do any of you hate your platinum and the patina? Do you regret choosing to go with platinum? Or do you love it? How much patina if any does your ring show?

I've always had white or yellow gold and because I choose 14k, it hardly ever scratches. I'm wondering if I'll like platinum as much. Thanks for weighing in with your experiences!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I love platinum and my rings show almost no patina at all. They key is to get the harder alloys:

95% platinum, 5% ruthenium (used by Tiffany, Leon, Mike Robinson)

90% platinum, 10% iridium (used by Victor Canera, Mark Morrell, Beaudry)

(The alloy that is softer and scratches easily is the 95plat/5iridium. I would not get this alloy for a ring.)

There are still jewelry items such as earrings that I would get 18k wg/palladium because they are lighter weight, but I would get platinum for any piece that I hope will be an heirloom.

 

[K9]

I have pieces in both PT900 and PT950 and I can tell you that I prefer the PT900 a million times more than the 950. I'm not sure everyone will have the same experience as I, but the 900 stayed shinier and more silvery in color than the 950. The 950 has the distinct patina, along with more scratches, and I don't like it as much. The 900 has no patina at all.

For me, I don't find that the rhodium wears off too fast on my white gold. I'm sure it has to do with body chemistry, but I find that my white gold pieces stay nice and silver for a very long time. I have never had to have anything re-rhodiumed unless I was sizing.

As you can see, lots of factors for consideration. Personally, since white gold stays nice and white for me, I don't think platinum is worth it - FOR ME. But if I had to choose platinum, it'd be PT900 hands down because I have just had better luck with it and I prefer the silver color against my skintone over the patina color.

It's all personal preference but there's my experience.

 

[Laila619]

I have pieces in both PT900 and PT950 and I can tell you that I prefer the PT900 a million times more than the 950. I'm not sure everyone will have the same experience as I, but the 900 stayed shinier and more silvery in color than the 950. The 950 has the distinct patina, along with more scratches, and I don't like it as much. The 900 has no patina at all.

For me, I don't find that the rhodium wears off too fast on my white gold. I'm sure it has to do with body chemistry, but I find that my white gold pieces stay nice and silver for a very long time. I have never had to have anything re-rhodiumed unless I was sizing.

As you can see, lots of factors for consideration. Personally, since white gold stays nice and white for me, I don't think platinum is worth it - FOR ME. But if I had to choose platinum, it'd be PT900 hands down because I have just had better luck with it and I prefer the silver color against my skintone over the patina color.

It's all personal preference but there's my experience.

KP,

Me either, white gold never yellows on me. Do you worry about losing metal though? I have some of my grandmother's rings from the '50s in white gold, and the bottom shanks are worn paper thin!

 

[Laila619]

I love platinum and my rings show almost no patina at all. They key is to get the harder alloys:

95% platinum, 5% ruthenium (used by Tiffany, Leon, Mike Robinson)

90% platinum, 10% iridium (used by Victor Canera, Mark Morrell, Beaudry)

(The alloy that is softer and scratches easily is the 95plat/5iridium. I would not get this alloy for a ring.)

There are still jewelry items such as earrings that I would get 18k wg/palladium because they are lighter weight, but I would get platinum for any piece that I hope will be an heirloom.

Yes, definitely! This is probably the only alloy I would get.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Well, I have 3 rings with the 90/10 and they are fine, too! So don't eliminate that! If it's good enough for Victor, Mark, and Beaudry, it's good enough for me!

 

[mrssalvo]

I love, love, love platinum. None of my rings even got heavy patina and a once a year polish shines them bright again if they do.

 

[purplesparklies]

Do not like my platinum because it just feels too heavy. Much prefer my white gold as they are just more comfortable to wear.

 

[ame]

Hi all!

I'm thinking about getting platinum for my next reset. Do any of you hate your platinum and the patina? Do you regret choosing to go with platinum? Or do you love it? How much patina if any does your ring show?

I've always had white or yellow gold and because I choose 14k, it hardly ever scratches. I'm wondering if I'll like platinum as much. Thanks for weighing in with your experiences!

I can't actually wear gold so I have Plat, but I love Platinum. I like the color, the heft, the weight, and in theory the durability. I get my rings polished every few months to keep them shiny and fairly new looking. I don't wear them much though as you well know, so they don't get a ton of a chance to get much patina. I do have one ring that I have not had polished in probably two years, and it does look beat to hell but that's bec it's the only ring Ill wear to use my hands. And I USE my hands with it on. I never planned to, but I didn't want to lose it, so I left it on. My stolen e-ring was plat/ruth and that thing was a f'ing TANK. lol it was heavy as hell and really took a "beating" on the bottom well. I believe that my channel is the same mix and despite rarely wearing it, the thing looks QUITE new on the bottom. Of all the rings I've had, the Vatche seems the easiest to scratch up on the bottom. I think it's 959/5 Irid, though I don't know that for sure.

 

[Maisie]

I grew up wearing yellow gold. My first wedding set was YG. But once I found Pricescope I learned more about Platinum and I chose that for my setting. I wore it for about 6 months before I bought my halo ring and I didn't notice a patina or lots of scratches at all....and I wore it every day. I think the alloy was 95% plat with 5% iridium.

I also bought an old Plat ring from Ebay and I loved the patina. I did have it polished up when I had the stone reset but it didn't change the colour too much.

My new ring will be platinum as I want it to last a long time and its for a special anniversary

 

[TravelingGal]

My ering (Jeff Cooper) and Leon are both 95 Plat/Ruth. They have worn very well. The e-ring, while it has wear, is still fairly polished down the shank. The bottom of the ring is very patina'd though, as is my wedding band which I do not take off for anything (even showers, cooking, etc.)

My 3 stone ring...well, I have no idea what the alloy is, but it has a vintage look that will be fine with patina, I think. I will have to ask the next time I go into 23rd what they made the ring out of, lol.

 

[Mara]

MY e-ring and w-ring were plat and the only thing that I can complain about is that I don't like how heavy platinum is anymore. I guess just over the years I got tired of feeling like my rings weighted me down. So now most of my stuff is WG and I plan to keep it that way for now. I loved platinum otherwise.

 

[K9]

KP,

Me either, white gold never yellows on me. Do you worry about losing metal though? I have some of my grandmother's rings from the '50s in white gold, and the bottom shanks are worn paper thin!

I consider myself to be quite gentle on my rings so this is not something that I worry about. I figure if in 50 years the bands wear thin, then I'll re-shank.

Don't get me wrong... I like platinum a lot, but my coloring lends best to yellow gold so I tend to buy more of that than white. When I do end up with white, I go with gold due to cost.

Totally personal preference.

 

[yssie]

I honestly don't believe any alloy of platinum can match the scratch resistence of alloyed 18k or 14k - the alloys we usually find here, anyway, white w/ Ni or Pd or yellow. I don't know about pink but I've heard that it's even more brittle and more difficult to scratch.

I've had 950/Ir (the "soft" one, cast) and 950/Ru (one of the harder ones, die-struck). Both eventually patina'd completely, the Ru took (a lot) longer to get there, probably a combo of alloy and method of manufacture. I haven't tried 900/Ir or anything with Co. Gold, well, I have lots of that Of course there are alloys I haven't tried and possibly some that behave unexpectedly, but at this point I'm more comfortable just staying away from plat entirely. I think handforged gold alloyed 18k or less is your best bet for greatest scratch resistance.

 

[Laila619]

I think handforged gold alloyed 18k or less is your best bet for greatest scratch resistance.

Yssie, I pretty much agree and I love my 14k white. It stays super shiny and scratch-free. But I do worry about metal loss and thinning shanks over time with daily wear (especially with thin shanks to begin with). The fact that Plat rings don't really lose metal appeals to me.

 

[Laila619]

K9, sorry I mis-typed and called you KP!

Thanks for your replies, everyone. I've enjoyed reading your experiences.

 

[alene]

I've had my ering and w-band for 8 and 7 years respectively. The ering is Pt 950, I believe with Ru, though I'm not positive, the w-band is Pt 900. I saw absolutely no difference in wear or color. Both have some scratches but are still somewhat shiny. Neither one has every been polished. I have no regrets about platinum and my reset will be platinum also (with ruthenium).

 

[diamondseeker2006]

My original rings were 14k yg. After 25 years of daily wear (and not sleeping in them or anything like that), my solitaire e-ring shank was worn very thin at the bottom. It would not be able to be resized larger without replacing the shank. In addition, the 14k wg prong tips had worn down and had to be retipped. On the other hand, I bought a vintage platinum (90/10) 5 stone band and it looked like new even though it was likely 50-75 years old! Polishing platinum doesn't remove the metal.

For right hand rings that wouldn't be worn all the time, I would have no qualms about wg at all. But I do love the weight of platinum and just prefer it if I should have a ring made. It used to be that gold was a lot less than platinum, but the price differential isn't enough now to sway me.

 

[distracts]

I love it. Most specifically, I love the heft of it. Lighter rings just feel cheap to me. I have the 90 plat/10 irid alloy. After a year and a half of wear without polishing, it has developed a nice patina. I keep going back and forth on whether I want to take it to get polished or not. I will before my wedding so that it will match the wedding band and they'll patina similarly, but for now, I don't know! I like the satiny finish of patina, but I also like super-shiny!

I took these pictures after over a year of wear - the patina now is a little smoother looking than it is in these photos. The platinum is the middle ring, the one near my hand is sterling silver and the one on top/near the end of my finger is rhodium-plated.







Another thing to add is that it has only really developed a patina on the bottom, where my hand hits things. The prongs have developed a bit too, but I added to it because I hate shiny prongs. The rest is brightcut pave and it's very shiny - if it has a patina at all, it's not one I can see.

 

[Sky56]

I own rings which are platinum and gold. I like all the metals, though they have their pros and cons. Platinum does get that patina but it has that heft that gold does not have.

 

[Gypsy]

My rings always wear fine. I get my plain shank engagement ring polished every 6 months or so as it looks best that way. But the rest I get polished every year or so. I love the heft of it. And I think it wears beautifully.

 

[K9]

K9, sorry I mis-typed and called you KP!

It's all good. I knew what you meant.

 

[Enerchi]

My original wedding set was 10K for the wb and 14K YG for the ering - both still in EXCELLENT shape! At 20 years I bought myself a solitaire and had it set in platinum... 'just because' and had no issues at all. The patina in 6 years was just a dulled grayish tone but it would buff out nicely. When I decided to reset it late last year, it was a cost factor decision that I went to 18k WG w Pd... and we all know how well *that* turned out

Now, I'm going back to platinum. No idea what combination BGD uses (does anyone know what they use??) but it doesn't matter - I know in the long run, this will be a MUCH better choice for me since it won't be plagued by any of those insane issues I had before. I'm good with that choice because of the circumstances that led up to it, but if I hadn't experienced that, I can see that it would be 'back to the drawing board' to pick between gold or platinum.

Are you having second thoughts about your selection? Do you WANT platinum or NOT want it?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

My original wedding set was 10K for the wb and 14K YG for the ering - both still in EXCELLENT shape! At 20 years I bought myself a solitaire and had it set in platinum... 'just because' and had no issues at all. The patina in 6 years was just a dulled grayish tone but it would buff out nicely. When I decided to reset it late last year, it was a cost factor decision that I went to 18k WG w Pd... and we all know how well *that* turned out

Now, I'm going back to platinum. No idea what combination BGD uses (does anyone know what they use??) but it doesn't matter - I know in the long run, this will be a MUCH better choice for me since it won't be plagued by any of those insane issues I had before. I'm good with that choice because of the circumstances that led up to it, but if I hadn't experienced that, I can see that it would be 'back to the drawing board' to pick between gold or platinum.

Are you having second thoughts about your selection? Do you WANT platinum or NOT want it?

Enerchi, I am pretty sure they use a good alloy, but always, always ask! I asked before doing my Vatche ring and was able to change it to what I wanted with no extra cost.

 

[Enerchi]

Ok DS, I'll ask - which formulation do you recommend? The 95% plat/5% ruthenium?

 

[Maisie]

I just asked Lesley which alloy they use. It seems that they use both, depending on where they get the setting from. She can find out for you though

 

[Enerchi]

Thanks Maisie! Do you recommend the same as DS does - 95/5 plat/ruthenium?

 

[Maisie]

I only have experience of Plat/Iridium. And it was fine when I had it. But I think DS has much more experience with Plat than me so I shall bow to her superior knowledge

 

[Laila619]

Thanks Maisie! Do you recommend the same as DS does - 95/5 plat/ruthenium?

This alloy is supposedly the hardest on the Vickers scale of all the other Plat alloys. It'll probably be the least likely to dent/scratch.

Thank you everyone for weighing in!

I'm still really torn. I feel like the patina pictures I've seen make the metal seem really dingy and gray. But maybe it's not really that bad in person? Does skin chemistry play a role in patina or is it solely caused by scratches?

 

[Maisie]

I always thought it was just through scratching. I found this photo which shows a wedding band that has patina. I really like it.