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Testing white gold to see if I'm allergic...

DoeEyes

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 27, 2018
Messages
628
I've read everything I can find about white gold vs platinum and while I know platinum will last longer, I really love white gold. The only thing I need to determine now before I order my setting is if I'm allergic.

I've been wearing this white gold ring for a few hours tonight and I'm a little itchy, but not red or anything. I can't tell if this is a reaction to the metal or just from having something on my finger that I'm not used to.

I'm going to leave the ring on overnight and maybe wear it to work tomorrow to give myself 24+ hours to really test it. What should I be looking for?
IMG_20181017_205422.jpg
If this is in the wrong forum please let me know where it should go instead!
 

MeowMeow

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 27, 2009
Messages
1,645
I haven't tried to test my fingers lately but from what I remember when I tried the argentium bands is that when I get a metal rash on my finger it turns bright red and peels kinda. When it's on my neck its bright red and bumpy and itches like a mofo. It's obvious when I have one though because the skin doesn't look normal at all.

You might be itching just from not normally wearing anything. But it's also possibly allergy. Hoping it's just you getting used to it :) maybe check it out tomorrow morning and see how you are doing. If its red and itches a lot I would take it off immediately.
 

Curby311

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 25, 2015
Messages
67
I'm not sure if you're having a reaction because of being allergic or not. I'm allergic to white gold and for me it starts to itch within a few hours. I can wear my white gold necklace for a good 8 hours but by the end of the day I will be blotchy where the pendant touches my skin. As soon as I take the pendant off it will stay blotchy/itchy for a few hours. For me the next day it will be red but not itchy. For my white gold necklace I knew that it didn't have nickel but I ended up being allergic to the alloy. The vendor had let me know that it was palladium which is supposed to be a bit cheaper than platinum but less expensive. I was able to get it re-made in platinum luckily for the difference in the cost of the metal. I was worried about my fiancee spending alot on an engagement ring so I ended up ordering a platinum band to make sure I wasn't allergic to the platinum too. I would recommend that you try wearing it for a while longer to see if it itches more and maybe avoid hand lotions during the experiment. If it is more itchy then you may be allergic. You can always try getting a thin band in different types of metal to see if you have a reaction. It is also possible that there may be an alloy in the white gold that you are sensitive too. One thing I realized was that different setting manufacturers may have different alloys. I will probably end up going with a custom setting so I know the exact alloy and percentage to avoid an allergy. It is a gorgeous setting. Congrats!
 

DoeEyes

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 27, 2018
Messages
628
Thank you both! I'm still optimistic that this is just me getting used to wearing anything, not an allergic reaction. But I'll keep it on overnight and tomorrow and see what happens.

It is a gorgeous setting. Congrats!
Thank you! The ring in my picture is actually my great grandmother's ring that was stone-less for like 3 generations. My mom gave the empty ring to me but it's not really my style, so I had an old estate diamond set into it and I'm going to give it back to her for Christmas because she loves it. :kiss2:
 

twang07

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 2, 2017
Messages
159
I thought I was allergic to white gold, turns out it's only my ears. Or the rhodium plating in the ring I have is saving me, I should also say I'm not 100% sure what the alloy in my 10k WG twist band from DK or my wg pave band from ig. :confused:
 

DoeEyes

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 27, 2018
Messages
628
I wonder if anyone can answer this. I was looking at my mom's ring which is freshly rhodium plated, comparing it to a couple of silver alloy rings, and the rhodium plated ring is noticeably more yellow than the silver. Is that normal? I had been thinking this ring was not plated, just polished, but I just called the jeweler that did it and she said it was rhodium plated.
IMG_20181017_185742.jpg IMG_20181017_185758.jpg

Also makes me think this little allergy test I'm doing is useless since the ring has a fresh coat of rhodium plating on it, I'm not actually going to see if I'm allergic to the nickel in the white gold if it's covered.
 

sledge

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Messages
5,791
I think what you are seeing with your mom's is pretty typical. It's one of the reasons I don't particularly like WG.

When buying for my fiancee, I really wanted to go platinum but she liked the shiny of WG. In our case, I had a custom setting created for her by DK and they use a special WG/palladium alloy mix. Basically all the shiny but a true white metal that is NOT rhodium plated and doesn't require the constant re-plating like rhodium plated WG rings do.

In short, this was the next best thing to platinum in our situation. I could have went platinum for $100-200 more but she did not like the dull/patina look that occurs with platinum. I actually prefer that look, but it was her ring so I did the palladium alloy on her behalf.

FYI, the reason I pitched a fit about a traditional WG ring with rhodium plating is because depending on the chemical composure of each person, the plating will break down at different speeds and require replating to keep it looking white, as opposed to yellow. This is different from having an allergic reaction. For instance, I am not allergic to WG/rhodium plating but my chemical composure naturally eats through the plating very, very fast and requires plating more frequently than normal. Hence the reason I was so :confused2: about her wanting to go WG instead of platinum.
 

ChristineRose

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
926
It can take 48 hours for a rash to develop, and months for it to go away.

Wearing the ring for 24 hours should be sufficient. For testing purposes you want to avoid scrubbing your hands. If you really want to know, put it one your back, cover the ring with a clear bandage, and tape the whole thing securely to your back. Shower instead of bathing and avoid scrubbing it, and leave it on a full week.

If you do the back test it will be pretty obvious because they'll be a nice red ring under your clear bandage. If it gets too bad you can take it off early.

You can't be allergic only on your earlobes, but you can have different levels of sensitivity on different parts of your body. Hands get a lot of rashes because they get stuck into everything. Heads get shampooed. Joints get more wear because they are constantly moving.

But the thing about that is that the absolute WORST thing you can do is push the allergy. Rhodium is not intended to protect you from allergies. Even the best plating has tiny holes that leak. The more you get away with minimal exposure, the more sensitized you will get.

Contact allergies can kill you. Of course you will stop wearing your jewelry long before that happens. But there are people who for whatever reason aren't able to protect themselves and do become so sensitized that they die, usually because they inhaled something they shouldn't have. Typically this is with industrial chemicals, not white gold rings.

I don't want anyone to think that a ring might actually kill them. But it always upsets me when someone on PS suggests pushing an allergy. It will only get worse. Imagine a life where you can't use change (money) without wearing gloves.
 

DoeEyes

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 27, 2018
Messages
628
It can take 48 hours for a rash to develop, and months for it to go away.

Wearing the ring for 24 hours should be sufficient. For testing purposes you want to avoid scrubbing your hands. If you really want to know, put it one your back, cover the ring with a clear bandage, and tape the whole thing securely to your back. Shower instead of bathing and avoid scrubbing it, and leave it on a full week.

If you do the back test it will be pretty obvious because they'll be a nice red ring under your clear bandage. If it gets too bad you can take it off early.

You can't be allergic only on your earlobes, but you can have different levels of sensitivity on different parts of your body. Hands get a lot of rashes because they get stuck into everything. Heads get shampooed. Joints get more wear because they are constantly moving.

But the thing about that is that the absolute WORST thing you can do is push the allergy. Rhodium is not intended to protect you from allergies. Even the best plating has tiny holes that leak. The more you get away with minimal exposure, the more sensitized you will get.

Contact allergies can kill you. Of course you will stop wearing your jewelry long before that happens. But there are people who for whatever reason aren't able to protect themselves and do become so sensitized that they die, usually because they inhaled something they shouldn't have. Typically this is with industrial chemicals, not white gold rings.

I don't want anyone to think that a ring might actually kill them. But it always upsets me when someone on PS suggests pushing an allergy. It will only get worse. Imagine a life where you can't use change (money) without wearing gloves.

Than you! I am about 20 hours in, wearing it in the same spot, with no reaction. The little itch I had in the beginning went away, I think it was just from having anything on my finger that I wasn't used to. It's actually good that you said the rhodium plating doesn't protect you completely, I was worried that this test was useless if it was plated. I also took it to a store at lunch today to compare it to other white gold and the salesperson said the plating was done wrong and didn't really take which is why it's showing yellow. She offered to replate it for free but I'm nervous about leaving it now that there's a diamond in it. This diamond is very included so it should be easy for me to see it's still a diamond when I get it back, I'm just paranoid. I'll probably wait until I gift it to my mom and then let her decide if she likes the yellow tinge or wants to replate it.
 
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