Platinum Porosity That's Eye Clean - Potential Issues?

[hawk25]

I received a ring from WF a few days ago, and it looks great, but the OCD person in me decided to look at it through the magnifying device they included (a hearts/arrows viewer flipped around). I found 2 very small black 'holes', which from what I can figure is porosity. Without the magnification, I can't see the holes at all (they are on the side of the ring)

The ring is platinum, with 5% ruthenium that I had to semi-custom order (they typically use 5% iridium for this ring). I had read somewhere that the 5% ruthenium alloy is more prone to this happening and it's a casting defect, but dismissed it.

Are there any issues that could surface if I left this alone? Would it somehow be more reactive to chemicals (she works around labs,a major reason why I chose platinum), or affect the strength/longevity in any way? I would normally think of sending it back to WF, but shipping is more complicated since I'm in Canada.

 

[heididdl]

OY vey.......

 

[Christina...]

OY vey.......

I'm not sure how your comment is helpful to the OP! I believe the poster is looking for actual insight. Do you actually know if there is a potential problem or not??

 

[hawk25]

OY vey.......

lol it would be helpful if you told me whether that meant 'oy vey, I can't believe he's worried about that' or 'oy vey, that's a problem that should be sent back to fix'

 

[liaerfbv]

I am not an expert, so I cannot tell you if there's a structural issue to be concerned about or not. However, my personal litmus test for issues with jewelery is what I can actually see with my eyes. Personally, I would not be worried about a tiny pinprick in platinum I needed magnification to see.

I can't see there being an issue with her work chemicals because it's not like there is a plating on the ring that there is a hole in for anything to eat through - platinum is platinum and if it's going to affect the band it's going to affect the band as a whole. That's just my 2 cents. Experts, please correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[hawk25]

I am not an expert, so I cannot tell you if there's a structural issue to be concerned about or not. However, my personal litmus test for issues with jewelery is what I can actually see with my eyes. Personally, I would not be worried about a tiny pinprick in platinum I needed magnification to see.

I agree that I wouldn't be worried about something I needed magnification to see (or else I would've searched for an IF stone, and boy would my wallet have liked that ), but from what I've read, it may be a sign of more air bubbles in the casting and inherent weakness.

I'm unsure of how many porosity holes equals a legitimate concern.

 

[Christina...]

My initial thought was that it wasn't an issue, but I don't have any evidence to base that on and very little experience with platinum, so I'm really not qualified to make that determination.

I'd contact WF and show them the photos and hear what they have to say.

Just a thought though...are you sure that it isn't just an itty bitty piece of polishing compound that got left behind? Have you tried to wipe it away?

 

[denverappraiser]

For 99% of the people this would not be an issue. For YOU it is. That's enough. Contact WF and see what they have to say.

 

[hawk25]

Thanks everyone, I emailed my WF rep and I'll see what she says. It's definitely not polishing compound though, I tried wiping it away pretty hard when I first saw it, and when I slide my finger across it, I feel the indentation on the surface, not a bump.

It is reassuring to have denverappraiser saying that it's not a problem for 99% of people though. I'm taking that to mean there's no real structural concerns and it's not a warning sign of the ring being like swiss cheese inside. Do I have that right?

 

[denverappraiser]

Thanks everyone, I emailed my WF rep and I'll see what she says. It's definitely not polishing compound though, I tried wiping it away pretty hard when I first saw it, and when I slide my finger across it, I feel the indentation on the surface, not a bump.

It is reassuring to have denverappraiser saying that it's not a problem for 99% of people though. I'm taking that to mean there's no real structural concerns and it's not a warning sign of the ring being like swiss cheese inside. Do I have that right?

I would not take this as evidence of a structural problem.

This sort of pit is actually pretty common in platinum castings by the way. The usual manufacturing process is to use a laser to fill them before it gets to the final customer and I'm confident that this is part of the WF process. They can fill it if you send it back to them. They're a pretty reasonable outfit and they just missed it. The key question is whether it's worth the time and shipping to send it back. I would NOT recommend having someone else fix it by the way. It's not that it's a difficult job but it's messing with their warranty and, to the extent that it's a defect in the original manufacturing it's their duty to deal with it, not someone else.

 

[hawk25]

I would not take this as evidence of a structural problem.

This sort of pit is actually pretty common in platinum castings by the way. The usual manufacturing process is to use a laser to fill them before it gets to the final customer and I'm confident that this is part of the WF process. They can fill it if you send it back to them. They're a pretty reasonable outfit and they just missed it. The key question is whether it's worth the time and shipping to send it back. I would NOT recommend having someone else fix it by the way. It's not that it's a difficult job but it's messing with their warranty and, to the extent that it's a defect in the original manufacturing it's their duty to deal with it, not someone else.

Thanks very much for the assurances, I had no idea pits were common in platinum castings. I guess there's that naive sense of utter perfection, as unrealistic as it actually is (especially under magnification)

I got a response from WF this morning saying that porosity can be found on almost all pieces of jewelry, and that mine doesn't pose any structural concerns. So between the advice from denverappraiser and WF, I think I'll keep the ring as is. They suggested I send it in whenever I wanted the ring repolished and they'll fix it then, covered under the 1 year warranty, although I would probably be paying a lot for shipping.