Rhodium plating platinum

[diamondseeker2006]

If you rhodium plate the platinum, will it help the scratching issue or not? I assume it would give the shinier appearance as opposed to the darker gray patina, but I wonder if it would help with the scratching problem on a polished piece at all.

I love the weight of the platinum, but other than that, it almost seems that the price is not justified over the 18k wg since it doesn''t have many other advantages in actual appearance.

 

[ccuheartnurse]

I dont know anyone thats plated platinum with rhodium. For me, I like the colour of platinum. Hmmm, probably can be done as its just a matter of dipping the product in the rhodium bath. I think I would just save some money & get the 18K dipped in rhodium. Perhaps a die struck ring will give you the weight you like.

I bought my husband a ring, had it made with 18K & palladium thinking that the palladium would make it white enough that I would never have to worry about plating it. Wrong! Pre plating it looked white but a bit dull, after plating it, boy it sure shined like new white gold should. He pretty much only wears it when we go out & not daily so I dont see that I''ll have to get it plated often, & perhaps the palladium will keep it looking whiter longer. Who knows...

If you go with 18K & Palladium, it will have to be cast. The combination will need intense heat & the vendors making my husbands ring didnt have the oven to do it because its very expensive. They had to send it to a caster. Because they didnt expect this issue to arise, the extra cost was absorbed by them. I think that 18K & palladium is pricey. Perhaps just plain old palladium might work best.

Sorry DS, I really didnt clear any fog for you. Perhaps just made it worse.

There are enough people here, maybe they will shed some light for you.
Judy

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I know that Garry Holloway says he plates all platinum with rhodium, so it must be done sometimes. But I wasn''t clear as to whether it only helps the color or whether it also helps the scratching. My local jeweler (an hour away) prefers the hardness of wg on polished pieces, but he is not having the inconvenience and expense of replating when the wg turns yellow. I guess I need to see what they charge for polishing platinum versus replating wg. But with the rhodium plating of the platinum, at least as it wears awat, you are left with gray as opposed to yellow. I''ve just only had yellow gold rings up until now, and they are 100% maintenance free...never had to have them replolished at all. So I am really trying to figure out the white metal that will be the least trouble and expense to keep white and relatively shiny!

 

[Sundial]

I think it is scratches to the metal that causes the platinum to dull and get that patina. Perhaps the rhodium plating would delay that a bit. My jeweler will polish my platinum ring and rhodium plate my white gold ring for free since I bought them from him so you might ask this jeweler about that. I actually haven't had much trouble with my white gold discoloring, but I think body chemistry makes a difference. I know some people like the patina that platinum develops over time, but personally I like it better when it is all shiny.

 

[Christa]

Body chemistry may make a difference with WG yellowing, but I think what alloys are used makes more difference. I have a 1930''s vintage WG wedding set that is still perfectly white, and a "modern" WG ring that I also wear almost every day--if you put them next to each other you can see a slight warmth to the newer ring. My vintage set, on the other hand, was very close to the color of a platinum ring I compared it to recently (I don''t have any plat of my own). Both are 14k, so I can only assume there were different alloys used 70 years ago . . . OK, end of thread-jack.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

So Sundial, which of your rings needs maintenance more often? Do you like one metal better than the other?

Christa, ironically, my local jeweler said that the metals aren''t what they used to be. So it does make one wonder what the difference is. Philosophically I do not like the idea of having to plate wg to keep it white. So if the jeweler will polish the platinum for free, then I might lean more toward that.

 

[february2003bride]

My neighbor rhodium plated her platibnum rings because they gave her ring rash. Mervis Diamonds suggested rhomidum plating them and she''s been fine ever since. They did say that they rhodium plate platinum often. Next time I see her I''ll have to ask her if they told her why they plate PLAT so much.

 

[Sundial]

Date: 9/10/2006 6:00:28 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
So Sundial, which of your rings needs maintenance more often? Do you like one metal better than the other?

Christa, ironically, my local jeweler said that the metals aren''t what they used to be. So it does make one wonder what the difference is. Philosophically I do not like the idea of having to plate wg to keep it white. So if the jeweler will polish the platinum for free, then I might lean more toward that.

Well it is probably not fair to compare because the white gold one has so much pave that only the bezels (which don''t touch the skin) and the sizing bar on the bottom really show the metal. My platinum ring is a wider solitaire with straight half bezels so a lot more metal is showing and it is definately more maintenance to keep it looking good if I want to maintain the shine. I can''t really say that I like one more than the other. I always wanted platinum though and until I had one I never realized that they required any upkeep. A lot of people just let them develop their patina and live with it. I think if my white gold really yellowed a lot that would probably bother me more, but I wouln''t choose platinum if the cost were substantially more.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Thanks Sundial! On the Memoire ring, I am being quoted $800 more for platinum over wg. That seems like a lot for a ring that has little exposed metal. However, I''d gladly pay for it if someone can tell me that it is really better and will make the ring last generations or something. The solitaire setting hasn''t been priced yet, but the metal choice would be more relevent because more of the metal shows. On the more antique pave set, I could go either way because the pave keeps the bands from looking too dull and gray or scratched.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 9/10/2006 8:58:48 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
Thanks Sundial! On the Memoire ring, I am being quoted $800 more for platinum over wg. That seems like a lot for a ring that has little exposed metal. However, I''d gladly pay for it if someone can tell me that it is really better and will make the ring last generations or something. The solitaire setting hasn''t been priced yet, but the metal choice would be more relevent because more of the metal shows. On the more antique pave set, I could go either way because the pave keeps the bands from looking too dull and gray or scratched.

its funny because I''d gladly pay more but I want that wg look. I know my jeweler would prefer I use plat because it has more "give" as she put it... but I want the tinge of yellow! lol I''ve been wearing yellow gold for years and I like it just fine, but I want the metal to blend in more with the diamond and I think plat will be too white... now let me clarify that I don''t think J''s are too yellow to be put in plat - I think they''re lovely, I just want it to match more, if that makes sense... so how about you get plat that you never have to polish and I get plat with a WG plating LMAO!!