Please show me your 10+ year old white gold/platinum rings?

[wolftress]

I''m curious about how white gold ages as opposed to platinum? I understand that white gold will most likely have to be dipped every few years, but would like to know if it is really worth paying the extra money for platinum? I think it''s quite costly to repolish platinum too, and platinum is such a luxury in Australia that I think I will end up shelling out a lot of money to get it repolished.

Any advice would be appreciated

 

[doobao]

O~ I would love to see the comparison too.

 

[metro]

I just got my 14kt white gold ering and wedding band repolished and replated after 4 years of wear. When I picked up my rings, they looked brand new - not a scratch or blemish! I wasn''t charged for the service (since I was having other work done) but I was quoted $70 on getting my husband''s band done. IMHO, I think white gold is the way to go if you''re budget minded. It''s beautiful, it shines and maintenance cost is low.

 

[wolftress]

Date: 3/2/2007 11:59:53 AM
Author: metro
I just got my 14kt white gold ering and wedding band repolished and replated after 4 years of wear. When I picked up my rings, they looked brand new - not a scratch or blemish! I wasn''t charged for the service (since I was having other work done) but I was quoted $70 on getting my husband''s band done. IMHO, I think white gold is the way to go if you''re budget minded. It''s beautiful, it shines and maintenance cost is low.

THanks for the advice, metro! I think $70 every 4-5 years is a reasonable cost to maintain a ring. My ering is 14kt white gold and it still looks pretty white after 1.5 years of wear. There are only a few scratches at the bottom of the band.

 

[biblobaggins23]

what an interesting question! i would love to see a comparison too!

 

[kkal474]

I actually changed my e-ring from white gold to platinum because it was already turning yellow within only a few months after getting it. I changed it to platinum, and while it does scratch more, it is a lot better than the ucky color my WG ring became. For me at least, I would have needed to redip my ring every 3 months to keep it looking decent, which is just a little too much maintenance for me. Everybody's chemistry is different though so others may have a different experience.

 

[monarch64]

Since body chemistry and alloys used in white gold will factor into how fast they "yellow" it's hard to give a straight answer, I think.

My experience:

I have platinum rings, DH's first WB was 18k white gold. Within 6 months, his ring was looking yellow-ish and needed to be re-dipped. Got it re-dipped, then of course 6 months later, same issue. At that time he had it re-dipped again, and ended up purchasing a 14k wG ring of a simpler style, started wearing that one and kept the 18k twice-dipped one put away to wear for special occasions. A few months later, same issue with the 14k ring, which he then lost, and replaced with the same ring again. (Still have the 18k twice dipped ring hanging out for occasions he only has it on for a few hours.)

Moral of OUR story is: should've gone with plat. for him in the first place. However, he'd never worn jewelry before we got married and we had no way of knowing that his body chemistry (which is what we've come to blame this on) would interfere with the color of his rings in this way.

My suggestion for you is maybe try an inexpensive wg band for a few months if possible and see how it wears for you, that way you can at least rule out body chemistry being an issue. That still leaves the alloy thing, though...maybe you can find out what alloys your jeweler normally uses in WG bands and go from there...?

ETA: sorry, I know you are looking for comparison pics and I don't have any! Didn't mean to miss the point of this post, but wanted to share our story for reference. Good luck in making your decision. (I would go with platinum, though, hee hee

)

 

[cobaltgirl]

Both are well over 10 years old. The platinum is on the left. The WG has never been redipped. Hope this helps!

 

[Sundial]

Great picture Sarah, thanks for sharing! I used to have all yellow gold rings, but now I''m wearing a white gold three stone ring and I have two different platinum right hand rings. To me both metals are pretty, but they each have their issues. Both of your rings look terrific after more than ten years. Sometimes I think we just need to embrace the way they look as they age.

 

[wolftress]

Date: 3/4/2007 1:07:07 AM
Author: cobaltgirl

Both are well over 10 years old. The platinum is on the left. The WG has never been redipped. Hope this helps!

That''s a great comparison pic, cobaltgirl. That''s exactly what I was looking for. I can sort of see the warmth in the white gold ring, but I think I can live with that. The platinum looks lovely, but a bit more ''matte'' than the white gold.

My FI thinks I''m crazy, but then again, he thinks silver, platinum and white gold are all the same

 

[wolftress]

Date: 3/3/2007 11:10:53 PM
Author: monarch64
Since body chemistry and alloys used in white gold will factor into how fast they ''yellow'' it''s hard to give a straight answer, I think.

My experience:

I have platinum rings, DH''s first WB was 18k white gold. Within 6 months, his ring was looking yellow-ish and needed to be re-dipped. Got it re-dipped, then of course 6 months later, same issue. At that time he had it re-dipped again, and ended up purchasing a 14k wG ring of a simpler style, started wearing that one and kept the 18k twice-dipped one put away to wear for special occasions. A few months later, same issue with the 14k ring, which he then lost, and replaced with the same ring again. (Still have the 18k twice dipped ring hanging out for occasions he only has it on for a few hours.)

Moral of OUR story is: should''ve gone with plat. for him in the first place. However, he''d never worn jewelry before we got married and we had no way of knowing that his body chemistry (which is what we''ve come to blame this on) would interfere with the color of his rings in this way.

My suggestion for you is maybe try an inexpensive wg band for a few months if possible and see how it wears for you, that way you can at least rule out body chemistry being an issue. That still leaves the alloy thing, though...maybe you can find out what alloys your jeweler normally uses in WG bands and go from there...?

ETA: sorry, I know you are looking for comparison pics and I don''t have any! Didn''t mean to miss the point of this post, but wanted to share our story for reference. Good luck in making your decision. (I would go with platinum, though, hee hee

)

I still think it''s weird that some alloys age differently from others! I had a 14kt white gold ring that turned yellow within 6 months, but another that has remained white for years (and it''s an antique!). I''ve never owned platinum, so I was curious to see what aged platinum looks like, and whether it''s worth shelling out the extra $$ for it!

 

[elle]

Ita it depends on body chemistry. Our rings re-dipped every 6 months - they looked awful by then. For my upgrade, I used platinum which I wear next to my wgwb and so far I am pretty happy with it.

 

[Petunia]

Wolftress

These two pictures are of my original e-ring/wedding ring that I received 25 years ago. I''ve never had it plated and I don''t see much yellow ..... but then again, I''m no spring chicken and my eyesight could be way off.

Helen

 

[Petunia]

second.....

 

[metro]

Date: 3/5/2007 9:32:39 AM
Author: Petunia

Wolftress

These two pictures are of my original e-ring/wedding ring that I received 25 years ago. I''ve never had it plated and I don''t see much yellow ..... but then again, I''m no spring chicken and my eyesight could be way off.

Helen

Wow, Helen! Your rings looks great!

 

[kohdy]

My ring is not quite 10 years old yet, but I have been wearing it daily for 6 years. I probably have a slightly more wear and tear on it than most girls as I do use my hands a lot for my job: I am a Chiropractor! It''s a platinum setting purchased from Bluenile.com. I am changing my setting in a few weeks to something more delicate looking yet sturdy (Endless Love by Ritani) and I cannot wait!

 

[JCJD]

Depends completely on body chemistry. Most of my ering is plat but the basket is wg (grrr... will eventually get it redone in plat but that''s a different story), and the basket started yellowing about 1-2 months after we got engaged. Now I just live with the yellow tint because I don''t like having the patina polished out (need to polish the whole ring after rhodium plating), but I don''t like it. I''m allergic to nickel, and the jeweler couldn''t guarantee completely nickel-free wg in all their pieces just yet, so we went with plat. Since wg yellows so easily on me, it seems we made a good choice.

 

[wolftress]

Date: 3/13/2007 7:54:42 PM
Author: kohdy
My ring is not quite 10 years old yet, but I have been wearing it daily for 6 years. I probably have a slightly more wear and tear on it than most girls as I do use my hands a lot for my job: I am a Chiropractor! It''s a platinum setting purchased from Bluenile.com. I am changing my setting in a few weeks to something more delicate looking yet sturdy (Endless Love by Ritani) and I cannot wait!

What a beautiful set kohdy! I actually really like the thicker shank of your ering.

JCJD, I agree it has a lot to do with body chemistry. My sister''s ering yellowed within about 6 months after she received it. I''ve been wearing mine for over a year but it''s still pretty white.

FI and I have decided to go with 18ct white gold for my band and 14kt for his. I just couldn''t justify the extra markup for platinum. FI asked the jeweller to hammer set small diamonds into the top of the band to make it a bit more unique. I can''t wait till I get to wear it!