happy with white gold rings?

[questionaboutsettings]

Hey folks! I''ve gone through and read many of the white gold vs platinum threads here and they have been a great source of information. I understand the pros and cons of each - what I have now is just a question for those who have white gold rings - have you been happy with them and have they held up well over the years?

I would prefer to get a platinum wedding ring but my engagement ring is white gold, and it doesn''t seem like a good idea to mix them from what I''ve read here? (scratching of one metal against the other, color changes over time mean they won''t really look similar after possibly just a few months.) I know that white gold can be replated with rhodium when it starts to yellow - so my other question is, how often do you get your ring replated?

Thanks for any information - hope it was okay to post get another white gold vs platinum question!

 

[robbie3982]

I got my ring a bit over a week ago and had to have it replated today. I think it''s because i wore it in the pool during vacation (apparently chlorine is a big no no for white gold, but I didn''t know), but I guess I''ll have to see how long the plating lasts this time.

 

[kcoursolle]

I have a white gold ring, but unfortunately I haven''t worn it long enough to tell you how it will hold up (about 3 months now). I do love it, though! The price was less than half for the same setting in platinum. If you can find a jeweler who will rhodium plate it for free, that will help too. I find it does look shinier than platinum rings I see out there. Many of them have dull look from the patina. I haven''t had any durability problems yet. I have small bead set diamonds and I haven''t lost a single one yet.

 

[FacetFire]

Maybe someone can verify this, but I had a jeweler tell me the other day that white gold alloys with palladium don''t yellow. Is that true? If so, that seems like a great option...

 

[upgrading mama]

mine are white gold and I wouldn''t change them. I love how well they polish up after they are cleaned. Yes I have them rhodiumed once a year, and I wear them allllll the time, so once a year is not bad. Not worth the $$$ to me to do platinum.

 

[kcoursolle]

Yes, facetfire I have a fashion ring made with white gold with palladium and that is what my jeweler told me too. Palladium is a great alloy, but it also has disadvantages. This is what my jeweler told me. The great thing is that it exhibits the appearance of platinum, silverish color rather than white...for a fraction of the cost. However, it can develop a patina like platinum. Also, it is somewhat more malleable than other metals. Thus, it''s great for thin bezels, but maybe not for the prongs on a solitaire.

 

[sweetie9]

I am still trying to figure out why some white gold turn yellow and others not. I am completely happy

with my white gold e ring, but not with my wedding band that started to turn yellow the next day since I started to wearing it.

Like "facet fire" asked in her post I will also like to Know if white gold alloys with palladium don''t turn yellow is true, because tha might be the reason why my e ring still shine and looks white even though is more than 5 years old and I wear it everyday.

 

[belle]

i have worn wg jewelry for years and have not had a piece turn yellow yet.
my sister on the other hand has to have hers replated about every 6mos

btw...she wears this wg band with her platinum ering. not sure what *exactly* the culprit is, but i think the platinum definitely has something to do with it.
i would avoid mixing metals for sure.

 

[AChiOAlumna]

I also love my white gold rings as well. The first year they yellowed quite quickly, but I learned that using polishing cloths only wore off the rhodium faster. Since then, I only need to replate my rings about once a year.

 

[sweetie9]

I like this topic

I send My wedding band last week to be replated, I am scare that will turn yellow again, any other suggestions how to clean it or keep it white.

When I get it I will wear separatelly from my e ring for at least a couple of days, maybe my e ring has something that make my wedding band turn yellow or maybe not but i will experiment.

Thanks

 

[shinythings]

I have a white gold ring from the 1940''s. It was replated 5 years ago and still looks great to me.

 

[ladykemma]

i dunno. i like the look of the faded white gold, and i HATE the look of rhodium.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

I guess my body is particularly hard on white gold b/c the one white gold ring I had needed to be rhodiumed every couple of months. It was fine until it was resized and then it went downhill from there.

 

[Larissa]

I''ve had my engagement ring for 3.5 years and haven''t needed to have it replated yet.

 

[WTNLVR]

I''ve never had to have any of my pieces replated. I wonder if it has to do with body chemistry??

 

[ephemery1]

Date: 8/22/2006 7:26:14 AM
Author: WTNLVR
I''ve never had to have any of my pieces replated. I wonder if it has to do with body chemistry??

In my understanding, rhodium-plating has a LOT to do with body chemistry. It also depends on what the gold has been alloyed with, as mentioned before. And while chlorine can affect the integrity of the gold itself, it actually shouldn''t cause the rhodium to wear off after just one time in the pool. If you purchase a "white gold" item and the rhodium-plating wears off extremely quickly, I think it''s likely this could be because the ring was actually yellow gold, and then plated in rhodium, as opposed to a white gold alloy that was plated in rhodium.

 

[Mokey]

I have a white gold A Jaffe engagement ring and white gold band with the palladium mixture that are soldered together. The A Jaffe is a little more golden than the palladium mixed band, but only noticeable to me. Since they are soldered I will have to dip both of them, but otherwise I don''t think I would dip the palladium if it were alone. Hope that helps.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 8/22/2006 10:07:11 AM
Author: ephemery1

Date: 8/22/2006 7:26:14 AM
Author: WTNLVR
I''ve never had to have any of my pieces replated. I wonder if it has to do with body chemistry??

In my understanding, rhodium-plating has a LOT to do with body chemistry. It also depends on what the gold has been alloyed with, as mentioned before. And while chlorine can affect the integrity of the gold itself, it actually shouldn''t cause the rhodium to wear off after just one time in the pool. If you purchase a ''white gold'' item and the rhodium-plating wears off extremely quickly, I think it''s likely this could be because the ring was actually yellow gold, and then plated in rhodium, as opposed to a white gold alloy that was plated in rhodium.

I really want a ring I can wear in the pool, I swim a lot and I don''t want to leave that much ring behind in a locker every day. I''m definitely not afraid of having the gold yellow... in fact I like the look. It seems antiquey to me. But after reading the cons against both wg and plat I''m starting to think maybe I want 14k wg because I am hard on rings and I want something tough and IME 14k yg is tougher than 18k yg. Am I off base on this? I am constantly knocking my rings on the inner spinny thing on the washing machine. Maybe I just need them to trade places because at our other house when the washer was on the right and I used my right hand to pull things out LOL

 

[Mokey]

As I understand it chlorine eats metal. Especially gold, so pools are not recommended for jewelry. I hope someone else can chime in about this, but that is what I have been told and read in the past.

 

[anchor31]

My ring is a palladium WG alloy. My jeweller only works with that and it''s one of the reason we picked him; knowing myself, I would probably would have had to get it replated every month otherwise. My body chemistry is horrid with metals! I absolutely adore my WG ring, I love its shiny, brand new look! Since our budget was very limited, platinum was pretty much out of the question anyway.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 8/22/2006 10:48:48 AM
Author: Mokey
As I understand it chlorine eats metal. Especially gold, so pools are not recommended for jewelry. I hope someone else can chime in about this, but that is what I have been told and read in the past.

Yeah... but I''ve been wearing my wedding band in the pool for 15 years and my diamond earrings for like 7 or 8 and I see no problem... also my gold bracelets (chain links) but in any case, the pool I go to is switching from chlorine to salt water this fall... but still I plan to have a pool at my next house, at least there I can take my ring off at home lol all of my jewelry now is 14k yellow gold though... does that make the difference? I know I want truly *wearable* jewelry.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 8/22/2006 11:00:38 AM
Author: anchor31
My ring is a palladium WG alloy. My jeweller only works with that and it''s one of the reason we picked him; knowing myself, I would probably would have had to get it replated every month otherwise. My body chemistry is horrid with metals! I absolutely adore my WG ring, I love its shiny, brand new look! Since our budget was very limited, platinum was pretty much out of the question anyway.

even if the budget isn''t as limited it''s fun to spend every penny on the diamond! LOL

 

[robbie3982]

Date: 8/22/2006 10:07:11 AM
Author: ephemery1

Date: 8/22/2006 7:26:14 AM
Author: WTNLVR
I've never had to have any of my pieces replated. I wonder if it has to do with body chemistry??

In my understanding, rhodium-plating has a LOT to do with body chemistry. It also depends on what the gold has been alloyed with, as mentioned before. And while chlorine can affect the integrity of the gold itself, it actually shouldn't cause the rhodium to wear off after just one time in the pool. If you purchase a 'white gold' item and the rhodium-plating wears off extremely quickly, I think it's likely this could be because the ring was actually yellow gold, and then plated in rhodium, as opposed to a white gold alloy that was plated in rhodium.

My ring is definitely white gold. It turned a very pale gold color after I wore it in the pool for the entire week of vacation. The jeweler actually showed me what it looked like before it was plated and it's that same color that it returned to after the pool.

ETA: I was actually just reading up on chlorine and gold and I read that even if everything looks fine, it can actually weaken the gold over time and cause it to break. I'm definitely not wearing mine near ANY chemicals anymore. I even took it off when I did the laundry today.

 

[questionaboutsettings]

Thank you so much for all these great replies! It definitely makes me feel better about getting a white gold band....
I would prefer platinum but don''t want to mix metals since my engagement ring is white gold - but it sounds like white gold has held up well for many of you.

 

[questionaboutsettings]

Most websites don''t specifiy if they work with palladium or not for their white gold rings - I guess the thing to do is call and ask them?

 

[kcoursolle]

I would definitely ask to make sure they have a palladium alloy before purchasing. I would not assume that their stock settings have palladium. It''s still not a metal I see everywhere yet.