Disaster - Allergy to Engagement Ring

[kenny]

I doubt Gelin Abaci will tell you how much nickel is in their alloy.

I suspect their exact alloy recipes and processes are highly proprietary.

 

[AndyRosse]

Date: 4/23/2006 7:32:03 PM
Author: kenny
I doubt Gelin Abaci will tell you how much nickel is in their alloy.

I suspect their exact alloy recipes and processes are highly proprietary.

For allergy purposes, I would think that they could at least let you know if there was in fact nickel in their WG. I mean, isn''t nickel in WG not allowed in Europe??

 

[Garysax]

Date: 4/23/2006 8:06:52 PM
Author: Rascal49

Date: 4/23/2006 7:32:03 PM

Author: kenny

I doubt Gelin Abaci will tell you how much nickel is in their alloy.


I suspect their exact alloy recipes and processes are highly proprietary.

For allergy purposes, I would think that they could at least let you know if there was in fact nickel in their WG. I mean, isn''t nickel in WG not allowed in Europe??

Yes, I''m very curious to see what G+A and my jeweler have to say about this. They''ll probably just blame me by saying that I should have gotten platinum but I don''t know, I''m not sure how I''m supposed to know that she''ll be allergic to their 14 karat WG setting when every other 14 karat or better gold or white gold piece she has gotten has been no problem. I''ll know tommorow when they get back to me, I guess.

Well, what are you going to do, I guess... I don''t have much recourse since even though things were a little deceptive ultimately the ball''s in my court to find out what will and will not work with my fiance. I just hope they consider saying something to future customers about the WG settings they produce in regards to other metal content, if that is indeed what is happening.

 

[pinkflamingo]

I will restate this. I have a horrible nickel allergy.
If you do not mention this, jewelers in the US will not ask. I have been in countless stores that try to steer me toward white gold jewelry. To find a jeweler that will work with a hypoallergenic white gold alloy is nearly impossible. I am commissioning small martini earrings, and the only jeweler that I could find that could make a white gold/palladium blend was in Hong Kong. Obviously there are many jewelers in Europe as well. However, none of the big name jewelers here could do a hypoallergenic blend. Due to cost, I couldn't afford platinum.

Anyway, my point is that you keep on pointing fingers at this jeweler. You should have brought up your concerns about a white gold allergy. You stated in the first post that she had had allergies in the past. 14 kt gold means just a little less than half is an alloy. (only 14 out of 24 carats are pure gold).

Legislation regarding white gold needs to change in this country. Palladium blends are not that much more expensive, but they are basically unheard of at most stores. perhaps more jewelers need to ask about allergies in the process. I have yet to go into a store or make an online inquiry and have a jeweler warn about nickel allergies. Sooo.... I don't think it is your jeweler's fault.

 

[indecisive]

I guess I don''t see how it is the vendor''s fault. People can develop allergies at any time in their lives, even if they have been exposed to it 100 times before with no problem. If people stopped selling or put warnings on everything that a person may become allergic too no one would be able to sell anything and no new drugs would ever be made. It is really unfortunate that it happened but it isn''t anyone''s fault. Also, if you didn''t know she had a 14karat white gold allergy how in the world should they be able to foresee it?

Everyone''s body reacts differently to things. It is good you know this now so in the future you can by the appropriate metal. Good luck.

 

[Garysax]

Date: 4/24/2006 7:39:33 AM
Author: pinkflamingo
I will restate this. I have a horrible nickel allergy.

If you do not mention this, jewelers in the US will not ask. I have been in countless stores that try to steer me toward white gold jewelry. To find a jeweler that will work with a hypoallergenic white gold alloy is nearly impossible. I am commissioning small martini earrings, and the only jeweler that I could find that could make a white gold/palladium blend was in Hong Kong. Obviously there are many jewelers in Europe as well. However, none of the big name jewelers here could do a hypoallergenic blend. Due to cost, I couldn''t afford platinum.


Anyway, my point is that you keep on pointing fingers at this jeweler. You should have brought up your concerns about a white gold allergy. You stated in the first post that she had had allergies in the past. 14 kt gold means just a little less than half is an alloy. (only 14 out of 24 carats are pure gold).


Legislation regarding white gold needs to change in this country. Palladium blends are not that much more expensive, but they are basically unheard of at most stores. perhaps more jewelers need to ask about allergies in the process. I have yet to go into a store or make an online inquiry and have a jeweler warn about nickel allergies. Sooo.... I don''t think it is your jeweler''s fault.

I''m with you. As I said in the last post I made the ball *is* ultimately in my court and I am responsible for it.

 

[Garysax]

Just to update, looks like, as expected, I am sort of up the creek on this one.

Basically the options are to remake it in platinum, the jeweler was relatively gracious and gave us an ok trade up value for the current setting, but I still cannot justify (or afford!) it for 2800$ more (making the setting thousands more than the stone itself). Jeweler talked to G+A rep and the rep said that they use a *very* minimal amount of nickel in the gold tension ring mix. I asked if there was any way I could pay extra to get a different non-nickel mix and the answer was no; G+A rep said that 18 karat version wouldn't make much of a difference in nickel composition either, so moving from 14k to 18k is a no go as well. My jeweler suggested rhodium plating but wasn't hopeful it would do anything, just as the people here suggested.

My first move is to wait until her finger heals and then we're going to give it one more shot. The reaction developed over the course of weeks to a month so there's some remote possibility that it isn't an allergy but some reaction to something she got on the ring or something. It's a remote possibility but since so much money is at stake I don't think it's going to hurt to be sure.

So right now I'm thinking I'm going to have to dismount the stone and do something else with it. My fiance is upset and feels like she isn't even engaged anymore so I have to do something quickly. She dislikes temp. mountings but I'm probably just going to have to tell her to suck it up and wear one for a while I try to come up with another more unique design as a (2nd!) finished product. Maybe I'll look into seeing if any other tension set can be done in some other non-platinum inert metal, titanium or something, but I'm not optimistic that the G+A design we were so fond of with sidestones can be practically or ethically reproduced.

What a disaster this has been, very frustrating.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Gary,

Do you undertand why the platinum G&A settings are SOOOOOO much higher than the gold??? I have been looking at regular style settings and the platinum is around $300 or so more than 18K gold in most of them. It is not double or triple the price! There are so many other styles of rings that you could get in platinum for much less than the price you are quoting. Is there anything else she likes?

 

[Rod]

Date: 4/27/2006 3:21:53 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
Gary,

Do you undertand why the platinum G&A settings are SOOOOOO much higher than the gold??? I have been looking at regular style settings and the platinum is around $300 or so more than 18K gold in most of them. It is not double or triple the price! There are so many other styles of rings that you could get in platinum for much less than the price you are quoting. Is there anything else she likes?

Gary, I''m also so sorry to hear about your Fiance''s allergic reaction. I have the same question as above. I realize you guys love that setting. I love all their settings, but all the issues surrounding these settings (now one can add allergies to the list) prevented me from getting one.

As you remember, I had a custom made semi tension mount made for my ring in platinum. It''s not a G&A, but it''s awfully close and a setting like that would cost a lot less than a G&A. Perhaps you could contact one of the vendors here and see if they can help you out with something similar in platinum. Or take Boone Rings up on their offer to see if they could provide you a tension ring in Titanium. That would likely be the least expensive option you could consider.

Sorry for your woes guy..........

 

[Garysax]

Date: 4/27/2006 3:21:53 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
There are so many other styles of rings that you could get in platinum for much less than the price you are quoting. Is there anything else she likes?

Yeah, once we determine that this ring is a no-go for sure I''m going to get right on picking something else out... she doesn''t want to be any part of choosing her ring (unlike many of the ladies around PS) but I have a pretty good feel for her preferences.

As to the other question--I have no idea why the plat is like 2-3 grand more than the 14k for G+A...

 

[princessv]

Sorry for your allergy woes!


Plat is an expensive metal at the moment. The amount of platinum that goes into that tension ring is probably very substantial, thus the price increase. Someone posted a chart that said plat is now $1100 an ounce a few days ago.

 

[Pixie]

Not sure if this will help at all, but I even had an allergic reaction to my platinum ring that I hadn't had professionally cleaned for a couple years. The allergic reaction was so bad that my fingers would swell and get annoyingly itchy, to the point that I stopped wearing my rings for at least a year or two. I tried the clear nail polish trick that helped a bit, but the allergies came back. Then I found pricescope and I read a thread about people wanting to bring their ultrasonic cleaners on vacation. I decided to buy one and I cleaned my rings vigorously (It was actually quite icky when I looked close up. I had no idea it could get like that since I only wear it at work and I take it off at home and don't wear it in the shower... but I do wear it washing my hands in public bathrooms.). It turns out that I was allergic to items getting stuck on the inside of my ring and close to my skin and since I've had the ultrasonic cleaner, my finger healed (took a month or two to completely heal) and I now wear my rings every day without a problem. I've also read on pricescope that many people get rashes because they wear their rings when they wash their hands or in the shower, and the soap/water deposits/lotion? remain to cause the allergic reaction. Ultrasonic cleaners are inexpensive, so I thought that it might be worth a shot. Btw, I never had any other allergic reactions to rings I've had previously either, but I do have reactions to even my platinum stud earrings.

 

[Garysax]

Date: 4/27/2006 4:47:18 PM
Author: Pixie
Not sure if this will help at all, but I even had an allergic reaction to my platinum ring that I hadn''t had professionally cleaned for a couple years. The allergic reaction was so bad that my fingers would swell and get annoyingly itchy, to the point that I stopped wearing my rings for at least a year or two. I tried the clear nail polish trick that helped a bit, but the allergies came back. Then I found pricescope and I read a thread about people wanting to bring their ultrasonic cleaners on vacation. I decided to buy one and I cleaned my rings vigorously (It was actually quite icky when I looked close up. I had no idea it could get like that since I only wear it at work and I take it off at home and don''t wear it in the shower... but I do wear it washing my hands in public bathrooms.). It turns out that I was allergic to items getting stuck on the inside of my ring and close to my skin and since I''ve had the ultrasonic cleaner, my finger healed (took a month or two to completely heal) and I now wear my rings every day without a problem. I''ve also read on pricescope that many people get rashes because they wear their rings when they wash their hands or in the shower, and the soap/water deposits/lotion? remain to cause the allergic reaction. Ultrasonic cleaners are inexpensive, so I thought that it might be worth a shot. Btw, I never had any other allergic reactions to rings I''ve had previously either, but I do have reactions to even my platinum stud earrings.

I was definitely thinking of this--even if it''s wrong and it doesn''t help it''s a good thing to have. Where did you buy yours?

 

[Pixie]

I got a Haier from Amazon for $35. I was considering the Sharper Image one for $99, but at the time, I didn’t know that this was going to solve my problem. I was thinking that maybe this would be another useless toy since I couldn’t wear my rings anymore. I also think that Walmart has the Haier for $35.

I really thought that I had a nickel allergy as well for those 2 years. I had read in some random websites that it was possible for even platinum to have some nickel in them. Don’t know if that’s true, but I didn’t know what else to do next. Thank goodness my problem was so simple to resolve in the end since I just love my e-ring/wedding set. The ultrasonic has also helped with my platinum stud earrings. I still have a reaction, but it is much more bearable now.

Good luck with your situation. I am hoping so much that your solution is as simple as mine, but even if it isn’t, I’m sure everything will work out in the end. I know wedding expenses are overwhelming, but in a few years, you’ll have the wonderful memories and all the money will be well spent in your mind. That’s how my husband and I feel looking back anyway…

 

[ladykemma]

have you considered a european jeweler doing your ring? nickel is not allowed there?