Okay to wear platinum spacer next to gold?

[sugarplum]

is it okay to wear a platinum spacer next to rose gold? which would get more wear and tear, the platinum spacer or the gold ring?

i know it''s not recommended to wear different metals next to each other but i have a gold band that i may occasionally want to wear with a platinum ring...so i thought i''d wear a spacer in between the two. however, the spacer is platinum so it leaves me with the same problem... but if it''s the spacer that''ll take the brunt of the wear and tear then i might be ok with that.

also, when talking about different/same metals rubbing against each other and getting worn, how long are we talking before damage is apparent? is it very slight and would take years or decades to get worn? or is it something that happens very quickly?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Are there places sticking out that are going to scratch the other ring or are you talking about two smooth surfaces up against another?

 

[sugarplum]

hi DS- two smooth surfaces.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

My mom has worn white gold next to platinum for more than 20 years and there is no discernable wear on either ring. I don''t see an issue if both have smooth edges (such as two plain bands against each other).

 

[sugarplum]

yeah, i remember that. that's good!

i wonder if there was wear though, which ring would be affected more. i remember reading that since platinum is softer than gold, the platinum ring would get worn down faster.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Well, it may sound obvious, but the softer one will get worn faster. What is not so obvious is which is the softer one: type of alloy used, heat treatment, working process (cast vs. forged) will all influence hardness very considerably - cold forged 950 platinum/50 ruthenium is much harder than cast 750 gold/ 250 silver - as in 4 times harder...

Also bear in mind that wear will occur where there is friction. There is no friction if there is no movement - if the rings fit snugly and don''t rotate against each other, wear will be limited.