Rings of different alloys together & different alloys for prongs and body of the ring?

[Sydneyphoenix]

Okay these are more of educational questions for future purchases, not immediate concerns. But I imagine most will agree there are not many things more unfortunate than seeing scratches and wear-damages from wearing multiple rings of different metals, on the same or adjacent fingers. I also believe this would be a common situation given so many get platinum setting for engagement rings then yellow/white gold for wedding rings.

Precious Metals

Learn more about the pros and cons of precious metals used in jewelry like silver, palladium, platinum, white gold, yellow gold and rose gold

nodeform.com

This website did a good job of comparing different precious metals and alloys including the Vickers hardness. I also found out for the first time about white gold with palladium (rather than traditional alloy with silver and nickel) which seems to be an interesting compromise given it’s still decent greyish white without need for rhodium re-plating.

When you look at the numbers, it appears platinum, (pure) palladium, white gold with palladium and yellow gold alloys all seem to have comparable Vickers hardness around 130HV, with 18K white gold with palladium and to lesser extent 14K yellow gold having higher Vickers hardness. Rose gold is considerably weaker in HV scale and I imagine wearing it together with other metals should be avoided.

Does the table on this website indicate that wearing 14K white gold with palladium, 18K yellow gold and platinum together in same or adjacent finger present very little concern for scratching one of the rings due to very similar Vickers hardness or would substantial scratches develop over time regardless of the minuscule differences in HV due to other chemical properties? If scratches from different metals are inevitable no matter how close in composition and Vickers hardness, I guess it’s smart to make both wedding and engagement bands of the same alloy, whatever it may be.

Another interesting fact I noted is that some people opt for ring prongs in white metal (e.g. white gold or platinum) even if the body of the ring is in yellow gold to accentuate diamonds in pave or halo settings. I expect two different alloys means the prongs will have to be soldered rather than the ring cast as a whole. So rises the question: Are the casting/soldering process and finished product more stable when using largely same metal (e.g. white gold prongs on yellow gold body) versus completely different metals (palladium or platinum prongs over yellow gold ring)? I speculate for price and technical reason, white + yellow gold combo is much more widespread, but want to learn!

 

[caolsen]

Great question. I’d think you can cast both metals by building the mold with separate pour channels and the heat of the liquid metal would bind the two, with final clean up and torch welding as needed? That’s how motor engines that require many metals are done.

When their is a weld, one thing to bear in mind is the temperature of the torch fire. Platinum was a late addition to the fine jewelry world because we needed the acetylene torch to be invented. It’s fire is so hot as to be able to bond platinum which has a higher melting point than gold. That’s why many Victorian pieces are gold and silver - prior to the early 20th century, jewelers couldn’t work platinum at the temps their torches could get to.

So the streght of the bind between any two metal pieces needs consider the welding technique. not all welds are created alike.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Millions of engagement rings have been made with yellow gold shanks and platinum or white gold heads. It's not a problem! I think it's best for white diamonds to have white metal prongs rather than having colored metal prongs reflecting in the stone.

I will say that any two rings that rub against each other will show some wear over time regardless of what they are made of. I prefer 90platinum/10iridium or 95platinum/5ruthenium because those are harder than the standard 95plat/5iridium. Scratches and polishing will remove metal on a gold ring, but polishing a platinum ring really just rubs the metal to be smooth with little to no loss of metal. I have platinum rings that show no wear at all other than the side where they rubbed another ring, but that really isn't even seen and I haven't had to have rings polished. White gold usually will lose rhodium plating and have to be replated. There supposedly are alloys that don't require plating and stay white, but I haven't seen those. So get the rings you want, but just keep in mind that platinum is more dense and certain alloys with platinum are better than others!

 

[Sydneyphoenix]

Millions of engagement rings have been made with yellow gold shanks and platinum or white gold heads. It's not a problem! I think it's best for white diamonds to have white metal prongs rather than having colored metal prongs reflecting in the stone.

I will say that any two rings that rub against each other will show some wear over time regardless of what they are made of. I prefer 90platinum/10iridium or 95platinum/5ruthenium because those are harder than the standard 95plat/5iridium. Scratches and polishing will remove metal on a gold ring, but polishing a platinum ring really just rubs the metal to be smooth with little to no loss of metal. I have platinum rings that show no wear at all other than the side where they rubbed another ring, but that really isn't even seen and I haven't had to have rings polished. White gold usually will lose rhodium plating and have to be replated. There supposedly are alloys that don't require plating and stay white, but I haven't seen those. So get the rings you want, but just keep in mind that platinum is more dense and certain alloys with platinum are better than others!

I think you are referring to white gold alloys using high-content palladium rather than nickel as bleaching agent, supposedly it’s permanent white enough that you don’t have to bother with rhodium plating. I think that’s my sweet spot if I ever want white gold.

So two rings will rub and scratch even if essentially same alloy (e.g. both 18K yellow gold), not to mention chemically similar (e.g. 14K yellow gold vs 18K yellow gold, 18K yellow gold vs 18K Palladium white gold), so get whatever combo that one wants? I wasn’t aware platinum prongs + yellow gold body was a thing as two alloys are chemically very different, imagined solder/weld will not be as strong or stable as yellow gold + white gold combo.