Platinum or 18k White Gold Ring for Proposal Ring?

[babyjyo]

When I read online, it seems that there are two trains of thoughts. Platinum vs White Gold. There are also conflicting comments where, one is more scratch resistant over the other vs durability.

I was wondering what are the facts for this? Is what I describe below true?


Platinum: From what I understand, Platinum is more scratch resistant. It is Hypo-Allergic. The disadvantage of Platinum is its weight as well as its silverish colour. I also noted that there are 3 common Platinum mixture with other metals used.
5% Ruthenium
10% Iridium
5% Iridium


White Gold: They are cheaper, and has a nicer colour. But, the color can fade easily and is less durable.

My concern is whether Platinum is elegant enough, as I am more concerned of the need to do a yearly re-plating of the white gold. If platinum is preferred, which metal should is best to mix with (5% R, 10% I, 5% I)?

Appreciate your advice. Thanks!

 

[Dougsgirl]

In my humble opinion, if you want a white metal, platinum is the MOST elegant of them all. It is also the most durable, but not scratch resistant. Platinum can show the scratches and dings more, giving it a "patina". It can always be polished to high shine again.
The difference being, when platinum is "scratched" the metal moves around, but does not get scratched off. Thus, platinum retains it's weight and is very durable.
With gold, the metal wears away over time.
And there is no "true" white gold. White gold is simply yellow gold mixed with an alloy metal (usually nickel) to change it's color to white. White gold is then usually dipped in a Rhodium plating to give it is super-white, shiny exterior. This is the part that fades over time and needs to be re-plated to keep this look. Some jewelers don't do this at all... here is a quote from Green Lakes Jewelry Works in Seattle:

"You shouldn't put lipstick on a pig!
We don't plate our pieces and there's a reason. Rhodium plating white gold to make it look whiter is a sham. that plating will wear off, revealing yellower metal underneath and that piece will have to be plated over and over...forever, to look like it did when bought.
We don't do this, we select and use better and more expensive white gold alloys that are much whiter in color, all the way through & don't need plating. "

A lot of people like plated white gold, however. So it is a personal preference.
Platinum is the most expensive, yet most durable of the white metals and it requires the least maintenance.
White gold is stronger than yellow gold, and is more affordable than platinum. But if you get the plated kind, it will require re-plating and may wear down over time.
If I were to choose white gold, I would try to find the best quality, unplated white gold that I could. But that's just me.

I am not a PS expert, like many on here. I have just been in the process of designing my "dream ring" and thus have been the metals. Others... please feel free to chime in here and correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[february2003bride]

If price isn't an issue, platinum, IMO, is the ideal choice.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Definitely platinum for me. The weight is an advantage.

The hardest and most scratch resistant is 95platinum/5ruthenium and is used by Tiffany, Leon Mege, Mike Robinson. 90plat/10iridium is also durable and used by ringmakers such as Victor Canera, Mark Morrell, Beaudry, etc.

The one I avoid because of it's softness and rapid scratching and development of gray patina is the 5% iridium alloy.

 

[distracts]

Platinum is definitely elegant! My ring is the 90 plat/10 irid alloy and I love it. I do hear the ruthenium alloy is more resistant to scratching, but I've had my ring a year and a half and have not polished it and don't find the patina bothersome (it is mostly on the bottom of the ring where I don't see it unless I turn my hand over, and imo makes it look soft and satiny).

 

[stargurl78]

I think platinum is normally the preferred choice but I don't care for it because of the patina. But maybe if you could with a certain alloy, as suggested above, that can be minimized...

 

[mandasand]

Platinum is preferred but sometimes not in the budget so white gold is a fine alternative. You have to baby both metals, so really it's about the look you want (white gold usually stays shiny and platinum will patina).

 

[motownmama]

platinum = elegant ( in my book)

 

[Christina...]

I've never liked the patina of Plat. however it is definitely more durable and instead of a re-plating wg yearly you will need to have the plat. polished, so neither are a maintenance free. I have a wg shank now with a plat head, I'll soon be starting a custom setting and because it will be an heirloom piece I will be having it hand forged with plat, so even though I'm not crazy about the patina, I do accept that it is the more durable choice. If this is the ring that she will be wearing for the rest of her life or even for many many years to come then I would recommend going with platinum.

 

[tampabull]

All of the Jewelers I talk to say WG, because the WG doesn't show "daily" scratches like the softer Plat does. I've also heard that some WG rings that are Rhodium plated don't fade through to yellow, but instead are white underneath too so it doesn't look so bad when the plating starts to go.

Also heard that how fast the plating wears off depends on the wearer, so some women may wear WG more "maintenance free" than others?

Is any of that incorrect?

 

[motownmama]

Are you talking to any PS vendors?????

 

[yssie]

Honestly, the best choice is going to depend very much on budget, the type of setting you're thinking about, what the vendor you're choosing is more comfortable working with (this may or may not be an issue)...

I like pieces with a lot of polished metal, and for those sorts of pieces I don't like platinum at all (own(ed) cast 950/ir and die-struck 950/ru). I've found that alloyed wg is more scratch-resistant given a certain method of manufacture - probably not true in all cases but at this point I'm comfortable making that blanket statement and thinking that way when I'm choosing my own pieces... especially against that dulling sheen of fine "daily wear" scratches (that's a good way to put it tampa). My gold scratches but the scratches are more discrete - they don't all blend into each other and matte the whole surface out. If I had to rank my rings in terms of scratch-resistance I'd probably go w/ (most to least) handforged 18k Ni-wg // hanforged Pd-wg // diestruck Pt 950/ru // (well) cast 14k Ni-wg // (well) cast 18k Ni-wg // (well) cast Pd-wg // (well) cast Pt 950/ir
That's of course just my opinion - obviously not any sort of authoritative list and incomplete since I can only judge metals and methods of manufacture that I have some sort of personal experience with
I don't like rhodium plating - my wg is all unplated. I have a bit of a thing for metal colour minutiae though.


All that said, if I wanted a piece with pave, or one that didn't highlight plain polished metal but required lots of detailed filigree work, I'd choose platinum and there wouldn't be a question, because it's the better metal for the job.

 

[cookies]

I have both 18K white gold and platinum rings. Personally I prefer 18K white gold. Platinum feels a bit too heavy for me to wear comfortably, and it is not really that much more resistant to damage in my case. Last winter my finger shrank and my hand-forged plain platinum band flew out and bounced around on the concrete ground for a few seconds. The band got badly chipped, with a piece of platinum missing.

 

[Enerchi]

Platinum for sure. I just went thru issues with an 18K wg ring and so glad that I do not own it anymore. Platinum gets my vote, all the way!!!

 

[TRIALnERROR]

Sorry for the thread-jack, but does anyone know if the 18K WG on a Vatche U113 is plated or not?

 

[distracts]

Sorry for the thread-jack, but does anyone know if the 18K WG on a Vatche U113 is plated or not?

Probably, though you may be able to specifically request it be left unplated.

 

[snoopkat]

I personally prefer plat for an engagement ring because I like the weight of it in my palm (though I can't really tell the difference when it's on my finger). Also because it's for an engagement, I prefer something more substantial like plat over something more lightweight like WG. But it really is a personal preference.

 

[papigal]

i had my 18K white gold engagement ring for 5yrs and i wear it everyday, never had a problem with it turning yellowish. Likewise with my necklaces and bracelets. I would say it is very durable.