black hills gold (tri color gold)

[yellowfan]

BR>I need some help on my Mom''s black hills gold ring. She accidentally splattered chlorine (for the pool) on her ring and it has a discoloration now. Will anything get this off? I have cleaned it many times and so far its the same. Appreciate any tips.

Thank you,

Lori

 

[AGBF]

Date: 7/24/2005 3:20:40 PM
Author:yellowfan
I need some help on my Mom's black hills gold ring. She accidentally splattered chlorine (for the pool) on her ring and it has a discoloration now. Will anything get this off? I have cleaned it many times and so far its the same. Appreciate any tips.

Sorry, Lori, I cannot help, but I want to get more information in case someone else can. Is it just the rose colored gold that is discolored or two colors or all three? (If it is two, which two?) Since the different colors have different alloys mixed with the gold it seemed possible that the composition of the metal might have some bearing on what solution could be used.

Deb

 

[AGBF]

Lori,

I am not an expert, but what I have seen so far on the 'net is not encouraging. I read one page warning people not to wear gold jewelry while swimming in chlorine since it dissolved the gold. Since it was too late for that, I kept looking. I didn't see a solution to the problem (although there may be one), but rather found more evidence that the gold is actually destroyed by the chlorine.

Here is a quotation from this website:

"Gold is chemically inactive. It is unaffected by moisture, oxygen, or ordinary acids but is attacked by the halogens. Aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids that liberates chlorine) is so named for its ability to dissolve gold, the “king” of the metals. Gold forms both aurous (univalent) and auric (trivalent) compounds; auric chloride and chloroauric acid are its most common compounds."

I also found this:

"Gold metal reacts with chlorine, Cl2, or bromine, Br2, to form the trihalides gold(III) chloride, AuCl3, or gold(III) bromide, AuBr3, respectively."

Maybe the ring is now AuCl3...or has some of that and some of whateverr chlorine has changed the other alloys in the gold into!

Deb

 

[yellowfan]

Hi Deb,

This ring has yellow gold, rose gold, and a green gold? The splash is across all three. The ring is the leaf band and I tried to polish it but its not working. The ring is not smooth it has texture of the leaves.

 

[yellowfan]

FYI: the discoloration goes from a lighter to darker stain on the gold. Almost like a coffee spill with uneven tones. This is the best I can describe it.

 

[denverappraiser]

Hi Lori,

Most Black Hills gold is either 10k or 14k. 10k is 43% gold with the balance being other materials. The mixture of other materials, usually copper and silver is what gives it the distinctive color. I tell you this because the rose colored gold is primarily copper and the green colored gold is primarily silver, both of which react to clorine. This is the reason for the stain. A jeweler sould have no problem polishing it off but you should warn them that the yellow gold portion of BHG rings is plated with 24k yellow to bring the color up and polishing the entire ring will remove this plating and change the look. If you want to put up with it, both Landstrom and Stamper, the two biggest BHG makers, have good warranties and they will fix this for free although a local jeweler can do it just as well and it will probably cost less than the shipping. There will be a little mark on the inside of the shank that indicates who made it if you don't know.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[yellowfan]

Thank you DenverAppraiser!

There is a stamp on the inside but I cannot make it out. It looks like a symbol. I will take it in to the jeweler for a proper polishing. It says its 10k gold.


Thank you,

Lori