18kt yellow gold vs platinum for wedding band

[Imdanny]

Please forgive me if this has been discussed before. I'm not sure if this exact question has been asked and in any case- I'm interested in what this group has to say about it currently.

I'm trying to decided between 18kt yellow gold or platinum for a wedding band.

To me, 18kt yellow gold is more traditional for a wedding band, it stays shiny, it is easy to take care of, it is pretty heavy, and it is very inexpensive.

Platinum is even heavier than 18kt yellow gold, is more in style (I guess) and is very beautiful (at least before it gets scratched and I have to find a jeweler to take care of it) and it does not lose metal through scratching.

Especially considering in the ring I have decided on, 18kt is 2/5 of the price, and that I think it is more traditional, I think that's what I want.

What would you want, and why? Thanks.

 

[Maisie]

I would choose platinum, as I have a platinum engagement ring. My hubby and I used to have yellow gold and it can still get scratched up. And its obvious when you look at it. I will try to take a picture of his old ring....

 

[Imdanny]

Hi, thanks. Does your platinum ring hold up better? Can you describe to me how platinum wears? I have to admit the wear in your picture would be very upsetting.

 

[Maisie]

I think my hubby never took that ring off for two years. He gardened in it a few times. He works in an office so he didn''t bash it around at work. Its 9ct too, which I thought would be a tougher ring.

My platinum is wearing up quite nicely, I have been wearing this ring since November last year and while the underside is scratched, the sides are still smooth and shiney. And I quite like the way the scratched bit looks

 

[Maisie]

....

 

[Maisie]

The underside...

 

[Maisie]

I do take my ring off if I am going to do anything which might hurt it... such as carrying boxes, or cleaning, housework etc. The good thing about platinum is that if you do scratch it, the platinum just moves aside... like putting a knife into butter. If you take it to get it polished it just pushes the metal back into place again, meaning you never lose any of the density.

With gold, if you scratch it, you actually chip a bit out and its gone.

 

[Maisie]

I know my ring can''t really compare with how much wear my husbands yellow gold one had, but I just wanted to show you how mine was holding up. I do wear it every day.

I guess it depends on how you wear your ring... will you take it off for heavy work? Platinum can be polished back up to the high shine you had when you first buy it. Some people prefer the patina (scratches) it develops and never have it polished.

 

[Lorelei]

I have worn a plain YG wedding band for 20 years, it has held up beautifully despite constant wear and an active life. However it is 9 ct gold which may have made a difference to the good appearance it still has.

 

[Maisie]

Thats what G wore too Lorelei, thats why I was so surprised at how knocked up it got. I always thought 9ct was stronger. We got it from Clogau. His doesn''t have the little bit of welsh gold in it though, mine did

because I am so much more special than him!

 

[Imdanny]

Thanks for the pictures. Your ring is beautiful! I think I''m going to have to bite the bullet and spend the money.

 

[Maisie]

You are welcome. Make sure you come back and show us what you buy!

 

[Imdanny]

Will do!

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Gold and platinum do wear differently, this is true. Will this be worn with an e-ring? If so, is the e-ring yellow metal or white? My husband has worn the same 14K YG band for almost 11 years, he never takes it off (not even at work, factory job, or when playing softball)...it has held up nicely.

 

[Imdanny]

Nope. Thanks for your input!

 

[Imdanny]

I've seen your rings and they're beautiful!

I love sapphires. That's my birthstone.

I've looked at palladium and tungsten. E-wedding bands carries both.

At this point I think I've looked at everything and decided on nothing.

Oh well, it's fun looking!

Thank you for the advice and good wishes!

 

[february2003bride]

Imdanny- my new e-ring setting is in and will be set on Tuesday. It''s palladium by ArtCarved and I plan to take pixs and post them in SMTR, since there aren''t many palladium rings on here yet. But it might give you an idea on what palladium looks like, especially compared to platinum. I will be taking pixs of the palladium e-ring next to my plain plat ring and plat diamond band.

 

[Imdanny]

Wonderful! Best wishes!

 

[snowviolet]

I would actually recommend 14karat gold (vs. 18k) over platinum... unless you want something with an engraved pattern, (think antique looking hand-engraving), then you will want platinum.
Platinum is extrememly dense, and though it does not scratch per se, it ''dents'' inward. (Think of gently sticking your finger into a stick of warm butter.) It takes literally forever to polish these out, where as gold, though it will scratch, polishes up quickly and nicely. Gold however, won''t hold a pattern as long as platinum.
So... for a plain band, go for gold... and an engraved band, go for platinum. Just my two cents. (But with our economy, is now only worth one cent.)

 

[Imdanny]

Ha ha ha! I just heard on the news that gas is going up 30 cents. Insane!

Thank you for your comments. I think yellow gold would be easy to take care of but I don''t know yet what I want. Platinum sure has gone up, gold only a little.