Rhodium plating/dipping 18 ct yellow gold e.ring?

[merrymunky]

Hey everyone.

I have been lurking around the forum for a week or so and finally decided to join up today.

I am looking for advice on dipping/plating an 18ct yellow gold engagement ring in rhodium. I have researched the concept online for some time now and spoke to a jeweller today in person who also gave me some information. I am under no illusion that this will be a permanent fix for my ring, I know full well that I will have to have it re-coated at least once a year.

I wear my ring all the time and it does take quite a lot of beating as I do a very hands on role (I teach in a special school for children with autism) so I know the coating is probably going to wear off a lot more quickly than usual.

I chose the ring with my fiance 4.5 years ago and at the time wanted a yellow gold solitaire, a traditional ring style. It is a lovely, modest 18ct yellow gold ring, with a white gold head holding a 1/3ct round brilliant cut diamond in a 4 claw setting. At the time I chose yellow gold as I was wearing two sentimental old gold rings on my other hand so I wanted my hands to match. However, everything else I wear jelwellery wise is silver toned. I no longer wear the other rings and wear a white gold ring on my right hand instead. So my yellow gold e.ring is really out of place. It''s not really me. I much prefer the white gold look.

My fiance does not want me to replace the ring for a new one, although we have discussed the possibility of me getting a completely new one as an anniversary ring some time in the future so I can buy a white gold wedding ring and still be able to wear a matching metal e.ring. In that case my original e.ring will be kept somewhere safe and then passed on through our family in years to come. Nothing will make me get rid of my original ring. It is far too valuable in terms if sentiment to me. I just want to be vain and wear something I will be totally happy with.

Which brings me to my main point of posting.

The cheap alternative for me at this time is to have my yellow gold ring rhodium plated to give the illusion of white gold. It will be a necessity to have regular top ups to maintain the colour should I choose to keep it as a white gold ring.

Has anyone ever had this procedure done? Can you recommend it? Are there any risks to my ring''s quality? The jeweller says it is safe, of course he would, but I just don''t know.


Thanks

 

[MMT]

I looked into this also but ended up just buying a whole new white gold setting. I was told I would probably need to dip every 6 months and I have an ering and band. It just seemed cheaper to get a new setting. I think it''s $50-70 each ring, each dip. I don''t think it lasts as long with yellow gold. When the yellow shows through it''s much more obvious. My friend had it done and wasn''t happy because she is having to dip it so frequently. It would probably be a great short term solution. Good luck!

 

[merrymunky]

Thank you

Yeah that''s exactly what I am afraid of, having to redo it potentially bi-yearly. It''s not expensive so that''s fine, just annoying I guess. I don''t want it to make the ring look cheap. I also worry about it damaging the ring in anyway should I wish to have it stripped back to its original colour.

The jeweller I spoke to today can do it for £25 (I live in the UK)

I think it would have to be a short term fix.

I wouldn''t want to have the stone put into a new setting. I would rather keep the original as it is and buy a completely new ring. I am not totally happy with the stone in my current ring, There is a very visible black inclusion in the edge of the diamond which I notice everytime I look at the ring. I would like to have something more eye clean.

I really don''t want to offend my fiance and make him feel that my ring is not worth anything to me. He does understand that I want to wear something I would be completely happy with for life. I am even willing to buy my own upgrade!!

 

[neatfreak]

It is a short term fix but won''t hurt the ring, just your wallet. Some people need to have things redipped much more often than once a year and some people can go a few years, you just don''t know.

 

[swingirl]

I understand the sentimentality with your original ring but Whiteflash has very reasonable white gold tiffany-style settings which cost what several dippings will cost.

 

[merrymunky]

I think I will try the rhodum plating and if I don''t like it afterall I will twist my fiance''s arm somehow into getting a proper white gold or platinum ring for show. Even if I have to buy it myself!

I have seen a few I like. I am thinking about moving away from a solitaire and going for a centre stone with diamond set shoulders. I would like a round centre stone but most seem to be either princess or 4 small priness clustered into a square setting.

I tell you something, American women seem to have much bigger/more extravagant rings than us Brits. It''s mostly solitaires...and mostly under 1 carat. Mine is 1/3 carat diamond weight and that is good by UK standards, unless you have loads of money.

This site has been a real eye opener over the last week, Some of the styles you women have are amazing. TOTALLY not practical for me and my job but amazing nontheless. The rings with the halos are infiltrating the jewellers here. They are gorgrous but as I say, I would damage a ring like tht at work. My ring is brilliant, it doesn;t stand too high up, so it reduced the risk of catching children. Although in one special school I worked at I scratched a boy with it by accident during a physical intervention.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

I have had my YG rhodium plated and it turned out ok. It just does not last on YG, especially on the palm side, and it does tend to get a funky spotted look to it...like cheetah spots!

 

[merrymunky]

That doesn''t sound too good!

Is that after re-coating it too?I suppose it won''t build up a coating if they polish it each time they coat it?

 

[merrymunky]

I decided to leave my ring as it was.

I bought myself a new white gold ring instead!

 

[LD]

Date: 10/17/2008 8:40:55 PM
Author: merrymunky
Thank you

Yeah that's exactly what I am afraid of, having to redo it potentially bi-yearly. It's not expensive so that's fine, just annoying I guess. I don't want it to make the ring look cheap. I also worry about it damaging the ring in anyway should I wish to have it stripped back to its original colour.

The jeweller I spoke to today can do it for £25 (I live in the UK)

I think it would have to be a short term fix.

I wouldn't want to have the stone put into a new setting. I would rather keep the original as it is and buy a completely new ring. I am not totally happy with the stone in my current ring, There is a very visible black inclusion in the edge of the diamond which I notice everytime I look at the ring. I would like to have something more eye clean.

I really don't want to offend my fiance and make him feel that my ring is not worth anything to me. He does understand that I want to wear something I would be completely happy with for life. I am even willing to buy my own upgrade!!

I bought a diamond ring that had had this done (not knowingly). The rhodium plating WILL wear off but there are degrees of plating. Some companies will only dip it a couple of times and actually in order to get it to stay and be reasonably durable you need to find somebody who may charge a bit more but will plate it well. Have a chat with Luke or Clive at DiamondGeezer.com They are based in the UK and they've made tons of settings for me and I can tell you that their rhodium plating is superb.

However, I would add that I would look at this as a temporary measure until you can get your special ring. Good luck!

ETA just seen your last post! Glad you got a lovely new setting.

 

[merrymunky]

Thank you.

So this is the original ring my fiance and I chose together 4.5 years ago. Modest UK beauty.

 

[merrymunky]

And this is the bridal set I purchased today. PHOTO COURTESY OF ERNEST JONES,

I was very surprised that out of the few shortlisted rings and bridal sets I wanted to look at in this jewellers, one of the top of the list had my exact size in stock. I am a large ring size (UK Q 1/2 - R) and usually have to have them resized. This one was in stock in an R. They also had a single ring version of the engagement ring in my size too, but I was swayed to buy the set instead.

Again, modest but pretty. It will keep me happy for a couple of years I reckon! And I get to keep my original too.

 

[merrymunky]

And said set on my hand! I am going to use the wedding ring to the set as my eternity ring and when we get married buy a plain white gold band. I am wearing both rings right now. Love them! Don''t want to separate the pair!

 

[Maisie]

I had one of my rings rhodium plated and it is coming off already and I have only worn it a few times. Its just sitting in a box now.

 

[merrymunky]

Thanks for the infor Maisie.

I think I made the right decision to leave the original ring untouched and just buy the white gold set for show.