Platinum versus white gold

[diamondlil]

I am in the process of shopping for a new setting for my e-ring diamond which is currently in a plain 14K yellow gold setting. Since the trend is toward white gold or platinum, I have a few questions.

I am curious as to which is actually whiter and whether it is standard procedure to rhodium plate over them. I have seen older platinum rings that just don''t have a bright white look to them. Is this because the rhodium has just worn off? I''ve read old threads calling this a "patena" that occurs with aging of platinum -- hate it! Also, I have an allergy to nickel and know that nickel is an alloy used in 14K white gold in most cases. What about 18K white gold? How can you tell what alloy is used in a 14K whit gold setting? Do designers always use the same formula in manufacturing their particular designs?

I don''t trust the few salespeople I have spoken to on the subject since I feel they just want to "sell" me a setting and be done.

I don''t know anything about how rhodium plating is done. Do the stones need to be removed from the setting for this process and then remounted or is the entire ring "dipped" with diamonds intact? How long will it last and does it wear off more quickly with ring cleaning (I tend to clean my ring all the time to keep it looking its best).

Sorry to ramble. I just want to know all my options.

Diamondlil

 

[Hest88]

Platinum gets scatched rather easily, hence the patina. Honestly it seems stupid to me to buy platinum and then rhodium-plate it. Why bother getting the harder metal if you're just going to cover it up? You might as well go for white gold.

Most white gold is a nickel alloy. However, if you look for a designer who uses a palladium alloy you'll get a hypo-allergenic ring that never needs to be rhodium-plated.