Concerns about platinum prongs!

[Ally]

Help! I got engaged in August 2000. My now husband got my grandmother's diamond reset in a platinum setting at a reputable jeweler. Recently I noticed that the prongs are turning gold. The band has "platinum" and "pt" marked on the inside. My mother brought the ring in and does not really understand what they told her. All I know is that they told her to come back in a few hours to pick it up. It now looks fine. Are my prongs platinum plated gold? If so what did they do when they supposedly fixed them? Is the jeweler responsible for falsely saying it is genuine platinum and to fix the prongs? Please help I seem to not believe what my jeweler is telling me. Thanks!

 

[StevL]

Sounds as though the prongs were rebuilt using white gold. And yes this is a common practice because many jewelers are much more comfortable working with white gold. The problem you describe is the white gold, it has a yellowish tint when compared to the platinum beside it. A plating will only disguise the problem.------------------
StevL
www.demsjewelers.com
www.eightstar.com

 

[pricescope]

Garry, professor of chemistry told me that if Rhodium can be deposited, Platinum can be deposited even easier.For example, try H2PtCl4 solution. One can apply different potential and vary the quality of the deposited layer: from matt to shiny.If you are interested, we can arrange a free preliminary consultation for you

 

[Ally]

Thanks for your replies. I finally spoke to my jeweler myself. My mistake, my prongs are not turning, it is the area in between them (it's a three stone ring). They told me in that area it is rhodium plated. They said that it cannot be platinum because it could burn the stones when soddering (SP?) it together. So my new question is when they made the ring the stones were not in it, so is it possible to have this area in platinum? If so should I demand that they change it, because my husband was under the impression that the whole thing was platinum and they never mentioned anything about rhodium. I was told now that I must go in once a year and have it replated. Sorry for all the troubles and thanks for your help. I am still curious to know what my ring "should" be. Thanks!!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Now firstly you should talk to the jeweller yourself and get a straight answer, not a chimese wisper.
You can not plate platinum because it does not disolve, not even in HF acid which is really nasty stuff.
They probably rhodium plated it which is a metal that looks very white and behaves similarly to plat.
If the ring is platinum then it will be the same color as stainless steel when the rhodium wears off, which usually takes a month or 3 on tops of claws and it never wears off on places where the ring does not rub or wear.
So you need to find out if it really is plat. If it is it should feel really heavy.please let us know the outcome.
Garry Holloway

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

If the whole ring is supposed to be platinum and it isnt, then you have been diddled.
There are no aother gold parts that are supposed to be gold?
If there are other gold bits then get a digital picture and email it to pricescope and we will look and post it here.

 

[pricescope]

Hi Ally,I cannot tell of course what they did with the prongs but technically there is no any problem to deposit platinum (or any other metal, e.g. nickel) upon other metal. Such processes are called electrochemical depositions and take literally a few minutes. The layer will be shiny and you won't be able to detect any difference.I don't now whether it is common to use gold prongs in the platinum settings though.So it

 

[BEDAZZLED]

I am having the same problem with my platinum setting. The jeweler had to change the basket on the setting to accomodate my stone. Now where it has been soldered, the metal is turning yellowish. The jeweler told me that he had to use low content platinum solder b/c otherwise all the side stones on the setting would fall out. Now I think my beautiful platinum ring looks cheap. If I wanted to skimp, I would have purchased white gold to begin with. I am very disappointed.

 

[bacon]

A three stone ring can be made without white gold solder. Your are right the diamonds are not in a new ring during assembly