can anyone tell me what's going on with this ring?

[Coralkey]

I have a simple yellow gold band that I my mother gave to me a while back. She had had it forever and didn't want it any longer, so she gave it to me. With time, its origins were lost and I don't know anything about it. I need to have it sized, as it is too small for me, but upon further inspection I've noticed something a little strange about the ring. looking at it, its just a tiny plain band, but when you look at the inside of the ring, it's a silver color. If it were plated, it would be the same yellow gold color throughout. It looks so intentional. I've tried to google it and I'm finding nothing. Unless it's super old and the plating has been worn off on the inside, I really have no clue. Please let me know what you think!
http://imgur.com/2Xxv9FR

 

[VRBeauty]

That is so cool! I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable than me chimes in, but it looks like the yellow gold is fairly thick, so it was probably applied mechanically rather than electro-plated. Gold fill and rolled gold are two methods of mechanically fusing a gold layer to a base layer, but it's possible that both layers in your ring are gold, and the ring was designed to show both the white and yellow gold on the inside. Or, the ring could have started out with a more round profile and the inside edge was reamed out to size it at some point - but I kind of doubt that. I also don't think the effect you're seeing is the result of wear, both because it's so even and because the edges of the ring are so well-defined.

You might consider asking a jeweler to test both components of the ring.

 

[pregcurious]

I agree with VR. The question is what the white metal is. If it is silver, and it is in constant contact with your skin, that might explain why it is not tarnished. (Constant rubbing of silver with your skin keeps it from tarnishing.) Otherwise, if it does not have any discoloration at all, it might be white gold?

Here's an article about gold bonded to silver:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/What-is-Gold-Bonding-eBay-/10000000005135591/g.html

 

[Coralkey]

I was pretty sure that it was plated or bonded, I just needed a second opinion.

If that's the case, can a plated other bonded ring be sized? The ring has sentimental value, and if that weren't the case I would just forget it and buy another ring. What can I do with this?

 

[VRBeauty]

I was pretty sure that it was plated or bonded, I just needed a second opinion.

If that's the case, can a plated other bonded ring be sized? The ring has sentimental value, and if that weren't the case I would just forget it and buy another ring. What can I do with this?

You really just need to get it into a jeweler or two to get their input - it's impossible for us to speculate, especially not knowing whether the inner part is gold or some other metal.

I've seen jewelers size up a gold ring just a little by stretching it on a mandrel. A more substantial re-sizing would need some sort of an insert though. If both metals are gold, I'm sure it would be do-able, although you'd have to take it to a good jeweler to retain the two-tone differentiation. Any jeweler should be able to add in a little piece of just white or yellow gold - but again, that's assuming you're just dealing with two different colors of gold.

Good luck!

BTW I noticed when looking at a larger picture that there's some sort of stamp on the white colored portion - so I suspect the ring was made this way.

 

[motacilla]

Hard to tell from the picture, but I've seen a lot of antique/vintage rings with a similar combination of metals. Platinum on the inside, 22k gold outside, 18K yellow gold inside, 18K white gold outside, etc. So it could be that.