Platinum vs White Gold??

[TruLuv858]

Hi All...I am certain that there has been a thread written about this before, and I'm sure that the majority of differences are subjective and based on personal preference...but I am curious, is Platinum worth the upgrade in price? I have to admit, my original wedding ring (1st marriage) was a white gold solitare Princess cut- going a completly different style this time around- Cushion, 2.5 ct+ and will likely end up with a three stone with baguettes on the side (at least this is the direction I provided my future FI). But really, why choose platinum over white gold? Your thoughts please?? Im really torn between the two metals, and this is inclusive of his wedding band too...

 

[yssie]

platinum:
-lasts "forever" (negligible metal is lost during polishing)
-heavier
-no plating required
-has been labelled the more "posh" and "upscale" metal by the mass media/market
-good for prongs b/c less metal memory and brittleness, so it bends on impact instead of going back to position or snapping off
-hypoallergenic
-patinas (no matter what alloy, and no matter how careful you are, it's going to happen)
-pricey

gold:
-lighter
-if unplated, plating not required. There are many alloys, some need plating to be 'white' and some don't.
-alloys contribute to brittleness
-much more scratch resistant
-less pricey
-more metal lost during polishing
-if plated, plating required every so often


My current ring is unplated white gold, I specifically requested a creamier alloy (I chose nickel, but I don't have allergies). My last setting was platinum and I absolutely loathed the patina.

 

[TruLuv858]

Yssie, BIG thank you! I didn't even think about the "Patina" issue with Platinum...Unfortunately, I am severly allergic to nickel, as much as I would like to wear costume jewelry, I can't even tempt myself...tough call, pros and cons on both.

 

[yssie]

Try palladium wg for white colour without plating, and no allergy issues (different alloy, doesn't contain nickel)

Another option is palladium, wears like plat. but much less pricey, but that comes with it's own pros and cons of course!


https://www.pricescope.com/journal/overv ... d_jewelry/

 

[LGK]

Platinum is really perfect for certain designs, like the really lacey delicate filigree antique pieces (Van Craeynest type designs). IMO if there is a lot of smooth metal in a modern type of setting I prefer WG, simply because I don't like the patina and tiny scratches that PT gets in those types of designs. (Some people prefer that look though.)

The setting you describe I would probably get in white gold.

For what it's worth, I see a lot of antique rings at work every day in both metals. They wear about the same, it seems like- most antique rings in either metal show about the same exact amount of wear. After a lifetime or two of on a finger, both tend to wear down some, with thin shanks and engraving getting somewhat worn.

Right now I have two PT rings I wear every day, as they're ornate antique filigree designs. The modern setting I sold awhile ago was 18K WG, and I wouldn't have wanted that particular setting in PT really. I like both metals for different reasons.

You can definitely get WG alloys that don't require rhodium plating or contain nickel. I have one ring I wore for a few years that was 14K white gold alloyed with palladium, and I loved that look- bright white without any plating.

Yssie mentions solid palladium as an option-definitely try a PD ring on before you order one. I wouldn't have thought it would matter to me but I *hate* the feel of palladium. It is very, very light and to me it feels like aluminum. Looks nice though!

 

[TruLuv858]

Platinum is really perfect for certain designs, like the really lacey delicate filigree antique pieces (Van Craeynest type designs). IMO if there is a lot of smooth metal in a modern type of setting I prefer WG, simply because I don't like the patina and tiny scratches that PT gets in those types of designs. (Some people prefer that look though.)

The setting you describe I would probably get in white gold.

For what it's worth, I see a lot of antique rings at work every day in both metals. They wear about the same, it seems like- most antique rings in either metal show about the same exact amount of wear. After a lifetime or two of on a finger, both tend to wear down some, with thin shanks and engraving getting somewhat worn.

Right now I have two PT rings I wear every day, as they're ornate antique filigree designs. The modern setting I sold awhile ago was 18K WG, and I wouldn't have wanted that particular setting in PT really. I like both metals for different reasons.

You can definitely get WG alloys that don't require rhodium plating or contain nickel. I have one ring I wore for a few years that was 14K white gold alloyed with palladium, and I loved that look- bright white without any plating.

Yssie mentions solid palladium as an option-definitely try a PD ring on before you order one. I wouldn't have thought it would matter to me but I *hate* the feel of palladium. It is very, very light and to me it feels like aluminum. Looks nice though!

Thank you so much for your feedback...you provided me with a perspective I hadnt even considered....very helpful!

 

[Imdanny]

platinum:I absolutely loathed the patina.

I do too. I can't stand it. I've seen it in pictures and IRL and I'm not a fan.

I love the way platinum looks when it's new, but patina no.

 

[rosetta]

Does anyone have a photo of polished next to patina'd platinum?

 

[yssie]

My old ring, WF's stock ir alloy - not sure if that's 900 or 950

 

[yssie]

At month 6 it was back at WF, I didn't have it long enough to develop a full patina but it was well on its way there, as the photos show

The band in the "5months" pic is also plat, was about a month old at that time, plat/ru 950

 

[TruLuv858]

Wow- thank you for the picstures! they were incredibly helpful. It's crazy to know that platinum can look like this after only a few short months.....

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

My first ring was platinum, I hated the patina, drove me crazy! I traded it in for a WG setting and was much happier!

 

[february2003bride]

Yssie, BIG thank you! I didn't even think about the "Patina" issue with Platinum...Unfortunately, I am severly allergic to nickel, as much as I would like to wear costume jewelry, I can't even tempt myself...tough call, pros and cons on both.

I have a nickel allergy as well- so you are limited to platinum 950 or 900, palladium950, or whitegold/palladium mix. Don't even try the white gold if you know your skin can't tolerate it. Or else you'll be doing a reset like I had to do!

 

[elle_chris]

As you can't wear nickel, the white gold would have to be alloyed with palladium. I'm pretty sure the color isn't the same as WG with nickel.

Before deciding, I'd want to see it in person.

 

[TruLuv858]

Thanks everyone....I never had a reaction to my old white gold ring? so maybe my allergy isn't as strong as when I was younger. I am really leaning towards the white gold for the aforementioned reasons...Thank you for your input everyone!

 

[stone-cold11]

Old ring? How old is that? There are old ring that are made from alloys with Pd or other metals, so don't try any WG/Nickle mix.

 

[TruLuv858]

Old ring? How old is that? There are old ring that are made from alloys with Pd or other metals, so don't try any WG/Nickle mix.

I was married before, and my engagment and wedding band were both white gold...last time I wore it was 4 years ago...

 

[LGK]

LMK if you want me to take a pic of my 14K white gold / palladium setting, it is a very bright white metal, a lot like rhodium plating looks actually. (But it's not plated of course, it's just the way it looks).

 

[TruLuv858]

LMK if you want me to take a pic of my 14K white gold / palladium setting, it is a very bright white metal, a lot like rhodium plating looks actually. (But it's not plated of course, it's just the way it looks).

Yes please! I would love to see it as a point of reference...

 

[septsparkle]

I wish I knew enough about the different alloys and metals to be able to confidently choose white gold, it would sure save some money on jewelry purchases. Unfortunately, I don't have that knowledge or even know where to start. I had a white gold ring several years back that did wear off very quickly leaving an undesirable yellow hue. I had it re-plated once, but found that sort of up keep to be more annoying then the patina from platinum. I know if I wound up with an alloy mix like the right hand ring I had before, I'd be re-plating at least every 6 months, which to me is too much and a lot less often then I'll have to have my platinum re-polished. I don't mind it, and I only really notice it on the underside of my ring when I flip my hand over anyway. To me, I'd rather have the patina be more prominent in between polishings, then have to suffer through a yellowed ring, but that's just me.

 

[stone-cold11]

Some metal color reference.

 

[elle_chris]

nice SC. i need to d/load that pic.

So, I just compared an 18k gold/nickel chain with an 18k/? (whatever alloy tiffs uses, but i think it might be pallidium). The color is different.

The nickel one on the left, is white and shiny, the one on the right is more of a gray/yellowish color. I had to downsize the pic so it's difficult to see, but In real life, i'ts much more obvious.

I also have an allergry, and found that I can wear the white gold chain on the right without any issues. The one on the left I only wear over turtlenecks.

 

[redhead02]

Platinum is really perfect for certain designs, like the really lacey delicate filigree antique pieces (Van Craeynest type designs). IMO if there is a lot of smooth metal in a modern type of setting I prefer WG, simply because I don't like the patina and tiny scratches that PT gets in those types of designs. (Some people prefer that look though.)

That's interesting, I was thinking exactly the opposite. I've read in a number of forums that WG turns yellow, but doesn't scratch or nick as easily as platinum - therefore I was thinking WG for really intricate designs and engraving. If you used platinum, could you really polish out delicate engraving without interfering with it? I know in platinum you "don't loose any metal when polishing", but that doesn't necessarily mean it is easy to retain the design perfectly. Or am I mistaken?

Likewise, I was thinking platinum for simple modern settings because they would be a more straightforward job to polish.

I may be skewed because I saw a friend's ring, 2 years of wear, which had a fairly intricate design on it, and it was absolutely wrecked from patina and wear. I was privately horrified, because I was figuring you couldn't fix up the design by repolishing. Happy to be wrong if anyone has the expertise.

 

[redhead02]

My last setting was platinum and I absolutely loathed the patina.

I give this more "word"s than a graduate student's thesis. Yuck. I can't imagine paying so much more for a metal that requires all that polishing to keep looking nice. Granted, someone upthread pointed out that you will replate more often than you have to repolish - so if you worked out the numbers over 50 years, it may be that WG is actually more expensive.

However, both will depend on your skin chemistry in terms of 'turning' the WG, and how fast patina bothers you. For me, WG turning is slow, and I hate the patina, so it's an easy choice.

It does sound a little bit like WG with palladium alloy might be the miracle metal - no replating, no allergies? Question on this though - I asked BGD about their WG palladium alloy, and they said it is NOT substantially whiter that WG-nickel. Thoughts?

 

[LGK]

Platinum is really perfect for certain designs, like the really lacey delicate filigree antique pieces (Van Craeynest type designs). IMO if there is a lot of smooth metal in a modern type of setting I prefer WG, simply because I don't like the patina and tiny scratches that PT gets in those types of designs. (Some people prefer that look though.)

That's interesting, I was thinking exactly the opposite. I've read in a number of forums that WG turns yellow, but doesn't scratch or nick as easily as platinum - therefore I was thinking WG for really intricate designs and engraving. If you used platinum, could you really polish out delicate engraving without interfering with it? I know in platinum you "don't loose any metal when polishing", but that doesn't necessarily mean it is easy to retain the design perfectly. Or am I mistaken?

Likewise, I was thinking platinum for simple modern settings because they would be a more straightforward job to polish.

I may be skewed because I saw a friend's ring, 2 years of wear, which had a fairly intricate design on it, and it was absolutely wrecked from patina and wear. I was privately horrified, because I was figuring you couldn't fix up the design by repolishing. Happy to be wrong if anyone has the expertise.

With an engraved or filigree PT setting I personally don't get them polished- I just leave them be, the patina isn't nearly as distracting to me if the ring is quite intricate... And yeah- if you got it polished regularly, the engraving would go bye-bye pretty quick. My two rings are actual antique ones and the engraving is quite worn anyway, so it's kinda moot Antique millgrain is super, super fine and is in most cases quite worn (I've seen a handful of antique rings with it intact, mostly on NOS- never one that was actually worn.)

If it was *just* engraving, I would go with WG, because I tend to prefer it and yes, less patination. Filigree and/or piercing- PT is better because it can be made much lacier/more delicate- that's why the really super intricate antique rings are PT. You don't really find many modern rings created like that though, so... I would in most situations go with WG with a new ring.

The thing with PT not losing metal? I have a hard time believing it makes much difference in the long run. At work I see *tons* of antique settings, and they're all pretty equally worn (wire-thin shanks etc.) no matter if they're white gold or platinum. The platinum seems not to make much difference in that- you lose metal if you wear it for decades just like WG.

(I totally forgot I put my foot through my new laptop's screen a week ago and grrrr, it makes it much harder to get pics off my camera- the old cruddy laptop I'm using doesn't have the port you can just stick the picture card in... so I'll have to post pics tomorrow.)

ETA: The two rings I have that are 14K WG/PD, are from Van Graff. They're super duper white- like rhodium white- with no plate. Dunno about other places alloys, but that's the way mine look naturally. I wore one for three years and I'm sure it's not rhodium plated, I wear plate off in about 6 months, at least on the shank. I've heard that alloy can be difficult due to the different melting points of the metals and can look horrid if done wrong- I think the gold can burn or something?- and you get these patchy blotchy parts. Mine are not like that though. But they're hand fabricated, not cast, so there's that.

 

[LGK]

Okay. I've got a bunch of pics here of various white gold and some platinum alloys. Probably overkill, but hey- I am still excited to have a decent camera again!

Hopefully the descriptions I put on the pics is legible. If not, the Beverly K-ish ring with the asscher center and sapphire channel set sides is the Van Graff 14K palladium white gold. The one with the star-set round center and slightly split shank and larger side stones is also the PD white gold. The 3 1/2 ct OEC is in an antique 900 Platinium/Iridium setting. The very small bezel set diamond with the dinner-ring looking very ornate filigree setting (and the missing triangular sapphire sidestone) is an unplated 18K white gold, the antique alloys of white gold had a TON of nickel and are super white w/o plating. The empty filigree setting is an unplated modern 14K piece.

The two Van Graff rings are actually subtly different in color- the asscher one has a teensy bit more off-white to it, though it's still nowhere near yellowish. The starset VG setting is the brightest white of all the alloys. The PT/Iridium is quite white but has a hint of a grey tone. The unplated 18K antique white gold is quite white, but has a small bit of a creamy undertone. (14K antique white gold is, to my eye, whiter, but I didn't have a handy example, sorry!) The modern unplated white gold is very yellowish.

 

[LGK]

Next group of pics.

 

[LGK]

I did mention the word "overkill", yes?

 

[LGK]

Finally done

 

[redhead02]

LGK that was awesome! Thanks for all the info and the great photo references. I heart your collection in general.

It cracks me up that platinum wears as much, or almost as much as WG. Even more reasons the massive price difference is a load of crap, in my opinion. But then again, this is the jewelry industry we're talking about, so why am I so surprised?

That said, it was very interesting to hear that platinum is better for super delicate pieces - I will keep that in mind.

On the WG/PD issue - does anyone have specifics on the mixture that manages to come out really white? I misspoke before, it was Whiteflash who told me that they still have to rhodium-plate WG/PD. I'm wondering if I can go back to them with more specifics, if it would be possible to use a different alloy combo than the one they normally offer.

ETA: LGK, I have a little grey kitten too! Actually two of them.