Please help, palladium or white gold?

[pecanpie21]

Hello all,

I'm trying to decide if my custom CAD halo/pave diamond ring should be made in white gold or palladium. Platinum is out of budget and I'm apprehensive about the need to re-plate the white gold in rhodium periodically for the rest of my life as well as the softer nature of WG. The jeweler claims that palladium is not "tested" enough in diamond jewelry and that it has been found prone to creating loose stones that may fall out easier than with WG.

Is this true? Is it the safer choice to stick to WG and deal with the re-plating? Do any of you have experience with a diamond ring (specifically a halo even) made of palladium?

Thanks so much in advance for any help! Pricescope has been a a great deal of help during this process.

 

[aviastar]

Palladium is of the platinum family, so it makes sense that it would end up being softer than white gold alloyed with nickle, but I don't own any palladium so I can't speak from personal experience as to it's wear and durability. I do have some friends with both palladium and palladium white gold and, to my eye, they do not look as white as platinum or white gold. I feel it has a brown undertone rather than the grey of platinum or the yellow undertone of white gold. Personal preference, but I would go with unplated white gold if it's an option.

Would your jeweler be able to work with one of the whiter gold alloys and simply not plate it to begin with? 14K is whiter than 18K and there have been some good things said around here about the Stuller X1 alloy, as well.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I would only use 18k white gold or platinum for fine jewelry.

 

[DiamondBrokersofFlorida]

We have never had any problems with palladium loosening stones.. Lots of designers have it as an option as well, but currently all designers don't offer it. It could be that they didn't recommend that metal if the supplier doesn't offer it as an option.