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14k WG/Pd or PT for Engagement Ring?

iko

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 9, 2017
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Looking for some advice,

I'm getting engaged and my fiancée and I decided to get a custom engagement ring using diamonds from two family rings for it. The diamonds are a 1ct old pear, round .25ct & 2x 0.1ct diamonds. We are looking a chevron style ring with the pear prong set in the V and the three round cut diamonds milgrained bezel set on top of the V. The band on the engagement ring would have milgrain edging with art deco style engraving.

Sort of a variation on these two rings:
1) http://www.trumpetandhorn.com/tiara-ii.html
2) https://www.1stdibs.com/jewelry/rin...e-pink-white-yellow-diamond-ring/id-j_172156/

I may have a slight Ni allergy and do not want to chance it with regular white gold. We have visited three jewellers so far for quotes. When I said I may have a Ni allergy two of the three immediately suggested platinum. The third we visited today and when I said that I may have a nickel allergy and that it would be Pt (based on our two other jewellers), he said we should not get PT but a 14kWG/Pd alloy, stating that based on my ring design WG/Pd would be a better choice. He felt the Pt malleability would not be a good choice based on the overall design of my ring, the location of the pear diamond inside the V of the chevron & the bezels.

All quotes fell in our budget but surprisingly though, the quote for Pt for one jeweller came in 30% lower than the other Pt jeweller was almost the same as the quote for the 14kWG/Pd.

I understand that a Pt is more malleable and durable, but less hard than WG. Whereas WG is more brittle but more scratch resistant. I would not get the WG/Pd rhodium plated, so the colour difference between the two does not bother me. What I want is an excellent quality ring that will last not require a ton of maintenance. Anyone have any opinions on whether WG/PD would be more suitable to the design or Pt?

Thanks in advance, your input is greatly appreciated.
 
Because of your nickel allergy and maintenance free ring that you desire, I actually think that platinum will be the better metal for you. I love the design that you have picked, it is very unusual and pretty. A skillful bench should not be worried about using platinum. I see that one of your inspiration rings has milgrain, which I love and is very typical for vingtage plat rings. I think that because of the overall design, you should not be worried about scratches, you will only really see them on the bottom and honestly based on my experience with both metals - both gold and platinum show similar wear. You can take the ring to be polished every-so-often if it gets really scratched.
Are you sure about the jeweler you want to use? Looking at the design, CvB ID or David Klass will be great vendor choices instead. What is your budget for the setting?
 
I agree, platinum will be best.

My own ring is 18k yellow gold which has held up beautifully with no allergy issues, I realise that is not everyone's taste, though!
 
I've broken or warped platinum rings multiple times because I'm an idiot. For less structural support rings (e.g., the floating diamonds in your tiara design), I would do gold.
 
Platinum for sure over 14K/18K Palladium for both allergic and durability concerns (and never needing Rhodium is a good bonus)

Platinum is the most inert of all metals. Extremely rare to hear of allergic issues.

Conversely, I have heard of contact dermatitis issues with gold/palladium blends.

Also, Gold/palladium blends bend and scratch easily.

For optimal durability/longevity in a Platinum ring go with a blend like .950 Platinum/Ruthenium.
Definitely stay away from .950 Platinum/Iridium (scratches, bends/flexes too easily)
 
I've never had any issues with platinum bending or warping. I prefer the overal metallic look of it vs a shiny white metal, but a lot of it is personal taste.
 
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