14K white gold mixed with palladium?

[Brensmom]

We recently picked up a new solitaire (wedding band will be ready in two more days!) from our jeweler. It is a replacement for my wedding rings that I lost back in August. When I told them I wanted it in white gold, they recommended that I have some palladium mixed in. So, it is mostly 14k white gold w/ the palladium. They do not recommend 100% palladium rings but said that this will make my ring more durable and that it will not turn yellow and will never have to be rhodium plated. We paid $275 extra for this.

Have you heard of this? I love the ring, although it does seem a little bit lightweight. I think it may be because I don't have the wedding band yet and my previous set was two rings soldered together, so it felt heavier. I tried googling it, but only found info about palladium on its own.

Also, the metal just feels...different. It's hard to explain. I have another 14k white gold ring and it feels very hard and cold...this metal almost feels like I could scratch it with my fingernail if I wanted to...( i tried though and it doesn't scratch, haha) Hope this makes sense. I am going to ask the jeweler about it when I pick up the wedding band, but wondered if anyone here has any insight.

I will post pics of my new rings once I have the WR!

 

[lokelani]

You do understand that there's no such thing as "white" gold, right? WG is simply a gold alloy with other metals mixed in to bleach out the yellow (aka gold) color, and to increase strength/durability as gold itself is a soft metal. Most commonly white gold is primarily a gold/nickel alloy, and what it sounds like your jeweler did is simply replace the nickel with Pd (referred to as "palladium white gold"). It's a great solution for those with nickel allergies and it's not that far out of the ordinary.

That's interesting that it feels so differently than your other WG. I've never seen/felt Pd WG in person but I wouldn't have guessed it would have such a noticeable difference like that. Palladium is supposed to feel much lighter than platinum though. I wonder if due to it not requiring rhodium plating, and being less expensive than plat, its popularity might increase in the near future. Maybe you'll be a trendsetter here!

 

[rhbgirl24]

I have played with rings where the nickel was replaced with palladium for the white gold mixture. They do feel different, and thats just because the weight is so different. I would actually seriously consider it because they felt so comfortable - I even really liked the full palladium rings. But if you are used to YG or normal WG I can see how you would feel the difference. Don't worry you'll get used to it!

 

[Brensmom]

thank you for the replies. From reading here on PS, yes I knew that there isn't really such a thing as "white" gold. I just hadn't heard of this that my jeweler here had suggested. I was looking for reassurance that what I bought is quality and wondering if anyone else had heard of it. My nervousness stems from the fact that it took us buying 3 rings before we got it right, LOL. The service at this jeweler has been FABULOUS, and I don't have a reason to doubt their word, the ring is beautiful, just a little different than my others. thank you again, and more replies are welcome!

I really enjoy this forum and have become quite addicted to it lately.