How often do you rodium plate your rings?

[Diamonds make me happy!]

I LOVE the way my new rings look so shiny & bright. They are 14k white gold & I want them to stay looking this way!! My old set would get so dingy looking. I had them rodium plated once a year. Can I get them done more often? It won''t hurt them will it? Thanks!

 

[blueyes157]

In addition to this question and rhodium plating... how much does is cost? do they have to remove the diamond to plate it?

Thanks!

 

[Cathers]

I got my original ER plated roughly once a year. To get it dipped, cost 32.00, I also got it done in a matte finish, which cost another 30ish dollars.

 

[Molly1024]

I got my e-ring and wedding band rhodium plated for the first time (wear time: one year). They charged me $15 for my wedding band and nothing for my e-ring because they had made it there. I also had a scratch polished out of it.

 

[Diamonds make me happy!]

Why the matte finish? I''ve never heard of that. HMMMMMM....

 

[Cathers]

I saw pictures of wallermama''s ring, as well as Lauren the partiers, and really loved the look of them. So, I thought I would try it as well. I must say, it really changed the look of my original ER, I like it a lot. I am not however going to get it done to my platinum ER. Type in their names in the search engine up top, and you will see pictures of both rings. I hope that helps

 

[chrono]

Rhodium plating can be done as often as you like; the diamond is not removed. My original e-ring has only been replated once since I reset it about 4 years ago. I believe the cost was very little (under $25).

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I''d have it done when it needs it. If I start seeing the yellow gold, then it''ll be time!

 

[poshpepper]

Sorry to threadjack... (well it is a little on-topic)... but how do they do the rhodium plating when your ring is covered in pave? How do they get it into all of the little crevices and around the milgrain? I have always wondered that LOL.

 

[Cathers]

I was wondering the same thing. I really don''t know enough about pave settings, or the process of getting your ring plated. All I know is, I bring it to the city and get it done

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I believe (squinting to see back to HS chemistry) that plating is a process done with a liquid that has an electrical current going through it. The electricity charges the rhodium particles and the ring as + and - I think and they stick together. What results is the "plating". So if the liquid can get into the crevices then you should be able to get those areas plated. The stones aren''t plated because they have different charges (ions?) than the metal and liquid. So the plating doesn''t adhere to them.

Plating isn''t actually affixing a new layer of metal to the ring by hand or painting it.

 

[chrono]

Rhodium is dissolved in the plating solution and is deposited on the electrically conductive metal parts of the jewelry when an electrical current is run from an inert anode to the plated cathode (the ring). Since any gemstones are not conductive they do not get plated. I guess the rhodium just goes anywhere it can reach.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I was close. That must have been the only information that kept me from failing chem in HS! Ironically it relates to jewelry....hehehe seriously though. I have a crystal clear image of the in class demonstration when we silver plated a spoon.

 

[Cathers]

Thank you both for the explainations! I did not do plating of any sort in HS, now I wish I had! It would be really neat to see, I should ask my jeweller if I can watch the next time my ring needs to be dipped! I guess the worst he could say is no, eh?

 

[kcoursolle]

I get my e-ring replated about every 6-9 months and it costs about $30. It''s not harmful and you can do it as much as you want.

 

[DBM]

i believe to do rhodium plating the polisher does need to polish the ring a little to "smooth out" the surfaces to allow for better plating. that being said the only drawback in frequent rhodium plating is the slow erosion of the metal.

 

[Diamonds make me happy!]

Thanks for all the great info guys! VERY interesting.

They charge $30 per ring around here. Even if its a set! Oh well!! The price we pay to stay beautiful.

 

[Cathers]

small price to pay, eh?

 

[luckystar112]

Does anyone know how long it takes?
For instance, can I wait for it to be done, or do I have to drop my ring off and pick it up the next day?

If it''s a quick process, I may just keep the WG setting, but if I have to leave my ring somewhere each time I may switch to platinum.

Then again, a WG ring that I''ve worn everday for three years is only showing yellow at the bottom of the band...

 

[Diamonds make me happy!]

It usually only takes 20 minutes or so to do. I'll bet you'll be surprised after you get yours done. Somehow they don't look so yellow & then when you get them back you realize how beautiful they were when they were new. It's one of those things that makes me happy! I just wanted to be sure I couldn't do it too often. I'd really like them to be done every 6 months to keep them looking new.