Palladium vs Platinum Solitare setting

[abirch4]

HELP!!

After reading more and more info on this site I am even MORE confused than ever...

My boyfriend and I have been looking extensively at rings and decided on a 1 carat Scott Kay Solitaire setting from Bailey Banks and Biddle... very simple

http://www.scottkay.com/bridal/products.aspx?categoryId=92&page=1&productId=1714

It is offered in Platinum and Palladium and of course gold which we had already ruled out.
The Platinum setting is obviously MUCH more expensive than the Palladium. I as many others didn't know much about Palladium and researched it as much as I could. The price difference is obviously appealing. I Don't care about the weight issue or the "prestige" of a platinum setting. I have two main fears that maybe someone who works in the industry and is familiar with Scott Kay settings specifically could help me with....

1. The issue of discoloring to a darker grey......This scares me.....I wear a lot of polished sterling silver and bright jewelry and my main concern is that I want it to match my ring. I don't think I would be happy with a huge discoloration. So HOW MUCH of a discoloration are we talking anyone have experience....esp. with a Scott Kay setting??

2. Difficulty getting the ring resized......I am a 4 1/2 ring size......I'm a realist and I have no doubt that along down the road if and when I have kids I will need my ring resized. Is it really difficult to work with esp. small resizing and how many resizing will it take before the ring gets very brittle? I will probably only need one but being a forward thinker what if my daughter or granddaughter wants to inherit this ring. Would they have to have it reset due to these issues?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thank you

 

[Adylon]

Hi,

1) Palladium does not discolor unless it's put under a torch or exposed to very high temperatures. Then it must be polished to restore it's white color. But obviously that's very unlikely to happen from daily wear. And even after 50 years or so if it's patina looks dull to you it's very simple to polish, especially the design you've linked to.

2) Palladium is not brittle, it's actually very malleable. Your ring design is very simple to size. Most skilled jewelers should have no problem sizing it. And any jeweler with a laser will find it easy as pie to size/repair.

 

[surfgirl]

I know nothing about Palladium, only Platinum...I love Platinum as a metal. I love the heft and weight of it. I love how it patinas, I love that if you get a nick, it''s polished out and you dont lose metal because it gets pushed back into place, unlike gold. I personally think plat. is worth the investment if one can afford it because its been around for eons and will continue to be around for eons. It''s timeless, so if you''re concerned about future generations wearing and sizing the ring, I''d consider plat.

 

[K9]

I actually owned the Scott Kay ring you linked here - in palladium. I no longer have it (due to some issues unrelated to material), but thought I''d offer my opinion on things I liked/didn''t like compared to the Mark Morrell sunburst I ended up with (platinum).

I too was worried about how platinum would wear as I don''t necessarily adore the worn look of platinum. I really liked how the palladium looked in the Scott Kay (I also liked the price) - it was nice and bright white. What I didn''t like was how light it was. I am used to wearing gold but it seemed to me that the palladium was even lighter than gold (maybe it was just the setting) and since my original setting was a heavier 18k gold, I really liked the weight on my finger.

Now that I have the MM, I am so glad I went with platinum. As someone who was worried about how it would wear, it''s just as lovely today (a year later) than it was when I first got it. The color has turned out to be a non-issue for me, yet it''s got some good weight to it as I wanted.

So, I''d say that the color is likely going to be a minor concern. If you wear a lot of sterling, you may appreciate the weight of platinum.

Hope it''s moderately helpful.

 

[kcoursolle]

I have a rhr in palladium and I liked the metal so much that I bought my husband''s wedding band in palladium as well. I wouldn''t worry about the discoloring issues, I haven''t seen any of them. In general it has a similar color to platinum when comparing them. It''s slightly lighter than platinum. I was told that palladium could also be re-sized just fine.