Is a white gold repair on platinum ring ok?

[STB]

One of the small (roughly 1 point) accent stones fell out of the band on my antique engagement ring. I took it to a jeweler to replace the stone and fix the bead setting, and when I went to pick it up today I noticed it was yellow around where the repair had been done. I left it with the jeweler to fix and it only occurred to me after I left that it was yellowish because they had used white gold instead of platinum to do the repair.

I have seen some comments on similar threads that indicated that using white gold for repairs on platinum is common but should be avoided. However, some of those same comments made it sound like it was unavoidable and that platinum could not be used if the repair was near stones. Is this the case, or is it reasonable for me to expect that they should have used platinum when repairing my platinum ring?

 

[CharmyPoo]

I don't know the answer but I personally would not accept white gold being used on my platinum rings. It will drive me nutty. In my mind, it's like sticking a Honey Dew with a Green Apple and saying it is the same

 

[oldminer]

If the reapir had been done cleanly you would never have noticed it. The repair may be yellow gold, white gold, or one of the gold solders which are visible to you. Rhodium plating might mask this completely. Using platinum welding or high temperature platinum solder right where a diamond is set will often burn the surface of the diamond and make it cloudy. Basically, this ruins a small diamond and one must replace it. A large diamond has to be repolished to get the surface back to transparent. The use of gold solder requires less heat and can be used without damage to diamonds nearby.

However, the diamonds around a repair can be removed and the repair done with platinum. Sometimes the jeweler must use a laser welder, but they have to have access to one and not every jeweler has spent the money or had the training. Such repairs cost quite a bit more han tacking a tiny repair in place with gold and hiding it with rhodium.

So the answer is that gold repairs on platinum can be acceptable, but to me only when they are not visible at the time of delivery to you.
Durability of such minor repairs is usualy as good as platinum. Major repair work on platinum jewelery is nearly always done with platinum.

 

[LGK]

Well, my bench guy has done replacement prongs in platinum w/o removing stones, and I have occasionally stayed and perched on his toolbox and watched . The process went as follows: he dunked the ring in something (I forget what- an acid of some sort?) and lit it on fire, which left a protective coating on the stones. Then he did the soldering. So I dunno how common it is to find a bench willing to work with platinium with a non-laser-welder, or how safe it is, but I've had a good number of PT repairs done safely through him.

And yes. A good repair, regardless of the metal, should not stand out in color or workmanship. So I'd be annoyed if I got a piece back and the repair stood out as a different color.

 

[STB]

Thanks Oldminer, that was very helpful.

I left the ring there so they could rhodium coat it before I paid for the repair, and when I pick it up I will make sure to ask if platinum was used on some of the other repairs that were not right next to the stones (it is an old ring, and needed reinforcement in a couple of places). I only saw the yellow tint next to the stones, so maybe they did use platinum elsewhere.

 

[that_someone_special]

I had a platinum ring... they tried to fix the prongs and did it with white gold solder... guess where that ring is? About 14 months after getting it fixed the prongs looked like it was melting.. I brought it in to be fixed again and there was NOTHING they could do. It had to be scrapped.......