Re-plating white gold ring.

Hi Shawn,
Is your ring yellow gold plated to white?
That's a recipe for disappointment in my opinion.
While it's true that white gold is not as white as platinum, it's still perceivably white- even after the rhodium wears off.
Plating yellow gold with rhodium is a very temporary fix.
Were you sold a yellow gold ring with the promise that rhodium plating would keep it white to your satisfaction?

no point. It is just another coating of white metal on the WG/YG. It will wear off too, once the rhodium is worn off.

Yes, it's a 14k white gold ring. Obviously it's plated with rhodium. I was under the impression this was quite common and that it wouldn't wear off for some time. However, my wife and I are avid home improvers and between tiling and concrete the plating has worn off in a little over a year. When we got married last week and her new ring was put up against it you could really tell.

Are you saying that a 'real' white gold ring is actually an alloy, not a plating? Is plating the 'cheap' way?

As an engineer, it seems to me that a good thick coating of platinum and rhodium should last a while. I mean, it's not like the ring is chipping off, the plating sticks to the ring well. So, if that's the case, shouldn't the thicker the coating = the longer the time?

What would you suggest I do, as a man of somewhat limited means.

Basically, white gold, when properly alloyed will look white even after the rhodium wears off.
Plating yellow gold white is really a poor choice.
Even if it does last a while, it's not going to wear off evenly.

Part of what I asked before was if the place that sold you the ring informed you of the real color of the gold? You have answered that it was sold to you as white gold......if you can see a lot of yellow that may indicate a problem with either the manufacture, or representation.
Although white gold is routinely rhodium plated- and after it wears off, you might notice a very slight degradation of color, that does not sound like what you are talking about
Maybe the seller will fix it.
If there's no recourse against the seller, than replating may be your only low cost option.
Generally the cost should be a lot lower than $100......

Well,

Given my circumstances and the fact that I may or may not have a bad ring, would the platinum/rhodium double plating not be my best route? 100microns of platinum is quite a lot, if something like that is possible Ithink I would be willing to do that. What would you suggest I do?

What about the place that sold you this ring?
You mentioned the plating wore off quickly- also it may be possible they were not upfront about the implications of the color of gold and replating.

Seeking recourse from the seller would be my first suggestion.

If you're completely at the end of the road with them: Can you describe the setting?
At $100 a pop for replating, it might make the most sense to replace the ring, if it's a more simple setting.

It's a fairly simple setting. I bought it from a mom & pop store in Ohio, they are veyr nice and will replate for free. I live in NC now though and my wife isn't too crazy about sending the ring in the mail to get redone. We won't be back up to Ohio until christmas.

In that case, I'd suggest replacing the setting.
You can scrap the one it's in to recoup a little bit.
As I mentioned, at $100 a pop ( sounds very high for rhodium plating) you'd probably break even at the second replate.

Hello Shawn, I do not know anything about the process you posted the site for, interesting concept. I do know that we bought my white gold ring from a very reputable dealer that many on here have bought from and I am careful with it, I do not wear it for house work and even take it off for bathing most of the time and still need to have it done about every year to year and a half, I have friends that are anal about it and have it done every 6 months. I do not think this is abnormal. It can also vary by the chemistry of the wearers skin I have heard. you will not see obvious yellow gold but like you found, place it next to a new ring and you will see the changes that have happened, I would not scrap your setting, I would have it plated and have your wife try not to wear it while doing tile and cement work???? really??? I know she probably does not want to take it off but for some things you just have to go bare and this is one of them.

A properly manufactured white gold ring stays white. There is no special care necessary- although common sense dictates that one remove the ring before doing heavy work.
We have literally thousands of them out there, and none has come back for replating ( which we would do free)
IMO,if there's visible yellowing, it indicates a problem.

yap, WG is an alloy, usually with nickle but there are many formulation out there, some alloys more yellow than others, it will never be as white as rhodium, not yellow gold plated with rhodium. So the yellow is probably yellowish white because you are used to the rhodium white.

Some comparison photos.
http://www.pricescope.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=115382#top



http://www.pricescope.com/journal/overview_common_alloys_used_jewelry
1. 18K yellow gold
2. 18K white gold, rhodium plated
3. 18K palladium white gold, not plated

I have a 14k white gold shared prong ring. To some it may still appear white, but I noticed the plating had worn off about 6 months ago. It doesn't bother me so much since my main focus is my engagement ring, but I did walk into a Kays (just the mall store) to see how much it would cost to replate it. They said they charge about $30. I seriously doubt that you have a yellow gold ring that has been rhodium plated.. I mean - is it yellow-yellow? Or just a slight yellow tint? As stonecold said (+ excellent examples) since white gold is an alloy of yellow gold and some white metal (generally nickel/palladium) it has a slight yellowish tint. If it bothers your wife, either get it replated (please don't pay $100) or replace it with a platinum/palladium setting. Good luck!

Good post Stone- it's true there's a wide array of alloys combinations used to make gold white.
There was no photo if unplated 18kt white.
Just like differences in perception of slight difference in diamond color, people have different abilities to see how white metal is.
If you've ever seen an 18kt White Gold Rolex- even well worn, they still look quite white.
So it is possible for 18kt white gold to be extremely white, even after plating has worn off.
14kt is actually easier to alloy very white- as you have an additional 17% alloy content to use.

IMO, it's not all that common for sellers to simply plate yellow gold white when convenient- but it does happen.

Of course that's just speculation but if it is the case, the seller should be held responsible

pic1 - closeup of two unplated 18k Ni-wg rings from diff vendors (diff alloys, slightly diff tints). In pic w/ three rings third closest to palm is a sterling band

pic2 - two unplated 18k nickel-wg rings (diamond threestone and plain band underneath) next to rhodium plated wg 8-prong stud earrings and 14k yg dbty chain. Sterling band in top L corner

Attachments

Yssie-I-Colour1.jpg (215.92 KiB) Viewed 4426 times

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in both plated wg near knuckle, unplated 18k ni-wg middle, plat (950 ru) near palm

Attachments

middle ring is 18k plain band

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middle ring is 18k diamond ering

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