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Platinum Versus White Gold

BlingObsession

Shiny_Rock
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Aug 17, 2012
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Very interesting and easy to understand the differences between platinum and white gold.

http://www.jogiadiamonds.com.au/blog/white-gold-vs-platinum-what-jewellers-wont-tell-you/

I must confess to misunderstanding the fact that platinum was "harder". I had a lovely, hefty platinum ring hand made for my husband and, honestly, I was so disappointed that it was constantly scratched and in need of repolishing. Now I know why. A moot point though because he managed to lose it last month - contained a .80 carat D IF princess diamond too. Someone in a hotel in Amsterdam did very nicely! And, nope, the insurance didn't cover it overseas!

:-o
 

ame

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
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10,794
BlingObsession|1414831358|3775898 said:
Very interesting and easy to understand the differences between platinum and white gold.

http://www.jogiadiamonds.com.au/blog/white-gold-vs-platinum-what-jewellers-wont-tell-you/

I must confess to misunderstanding the fact that platinum was "harder". I had a lovely, hefty platinum ring hand made for my husband and, honestly, I was so disappointed that it was constantly scratched and in need of repolishing. Now I know why. A moot point though because he managed to lose it last month - contained a .80 carat D IF princess diamond too. Someone in a hotel in Amsterdam did very nicely! And, nope, the insurance didn't cover it overseas!

:-o
I think it's completely worth the cost upfront to pay for platinum because it doesn't yellow (most white gold in the US is alloyed with nickel which requires plating to make it appear white, not to mention allergy issues), it doesn't require as much upkeep in general, and it is stronger. Platinum doesn't technically scratch, it "displaces", so you can polish it back without losing metal. When you polish gold, they shave metal off the piece to take care of the scratches. I don't even think it's an "argument" and never get why anyone would go with white gold over platinum, because while it might be a LITTLE more upfront, you make up for it in the end. Metal rings will always scratch, regardless of metal. If you wear them and use your hands, that's just how it goes. Polish them and be willing to deal with it.

I'd like to know which carrier you have that didn't cover a ring that was scheduled on your policy though, regardless of where it was lost.
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Jan 11, 2006
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58,342
So sorry about your husbands lost band! I'd recommend considering having a tungsten carbide ring for travel or anytime he is doing something that might scratch his ring. Tungsten is almost scratch proof!

There are harder and softer platinum alloys. A lot of ready made jewelry is 95% platinum/5% iridium. This combination is softer and will scratch more. The two best are 95 plat/5 ruthenium or 90 plat/10 iridium.

Here is Victor Canera's write up about metals on his site.

http://www.victorcanera.com/platinum-vs-gold

I really love platinum and usually get it when I want white metal especially for rings. I would only get gold when I want yellow or rose gold, but sometimes I might get white gold for things like hoop earrings since it is lighter in weight.
 

BlingObsession

Shiny_Rock
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Aug 17, 2012
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Thanks for the link, Diamondseeker - I'm not sure what my jeweler added to the platinum but I can tell you it was bizarre how easily it scratched and dented. It kind of put me off a bit. Now that I know a bit more, I'd ask more questions about the composition before having platinum again.

As for the husband - nope - he's blown it - no more jewelry for him - the previous thing he lost was a Tiffany gold cufflink - it cost almost as much to have a replacement one made by Tiffany than it did to buy the pair because the gold price had gone up so much since I initially bought them.

So I figure that's it for him - he clearly can't be trusted to look after his bling so all future bling funds shall be spent on me! :Up_to_something:
 
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