Silver or white gold for JKT ring? What would PSers do?

[stargurl78]

I sent an asscher peridot to Julia Kay Taylor to be set in a simple double bezel ring setting. I originally had planned to go with palladium white gold but now that gold prices are so high I asked her to send me quotes for both argentium silver and white gold. I'm not sure if its bad to post prices or not, so I'll just say that the white gold is fairly close to a grand and slightly more than double the cost of going with silver. I don't mind the look of silver but all of my silver rings look so much more beat up than my gold ones and a lot of them have lost their perfectly round shape. I really don't want to pay the price for white gold but I don't want to have the ring made in silver and then always wish I would have went with the white gold. What would you guys do? Have you had any good/bad experiences with argentium silver?

(I wasn't sure if this is the right thread for this topic??)

 

[Arkteia]

I never had experience with argentum silver but other PS-ers commented on it being sturdier than real silver.

With real silver, however, it takes years of wear to beat it up. At least for me. Who knows what might happen to a peridot during this time. I'd go for argentum to free the money for another project. Unless you plan to wear the ring every day.

 

[SB621]

Can you compromise and do the bezel in white gold and the shank in silver?

As far as JKT her prices as well as gold have gone up- which I understand because her talents are in high demand at the moment. I have several pieces from her in argentium silver and white gold. Honestly I wouldn't spend 1k on a white gold ring with a peridot in it. To me I don't see the value add. I would do the project in silver and save the money.

 

[stargurl78]

Thank you crasru and Sarah for talking some sense into me! I really don't want to pay the price for the white gold, especially considering the several hundred I already paid for the peridot:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/7-8mm-of-green-goodness-asscher-peridot-is-here.144655/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/7-8mm-of-green-goodness-asscher-peridot-is-here.144655/[/URL]

It really is a nice stone and I want it to be in a special setting, but I think I'll be perfectly happy with the silver. I just read some pretty good things about argentium silver. And I am very good to my jewelry so it should be a while before I start to see any serious wear.

Thank you again for helping me to save some money (which I'm sure I'll spend on other jewelry projects )!

 

[Aoife]

Is the price for gold that she gave you for 18k? If so, would you consider 14k to hold costs down? She recently offered me both options for a project.

I have one ring from her that is in Argentium, and I wear it often with absolutely no issues with durability. It seems very substantial compared to other silver (non-Argentium) jewelry that I have owned. It may also depend on how hard you are on your rings. I'm very careful, and tend to take them off the minute I get home.

Here's a photo of the ring, so you can see that while the lines are flowing, the construction itself is not overly delicate:

 

[stargurl78]

The prices she gave me were for 14k. And that included a discount for not having a design phase since I already knew what setting I wanted from a different ring she made so I didn't need her to provide me with any drawings.

I'm definitely going to go with the silver. Seeing your ring makes me feel better about going with silver, its beautiful Thanks for your post Aoife!

 

[Aoife]

The price for gold is just jaw-dropping these days. My DH and I calculated that the cost for a project I had intended to start at this time last year but delayed has now doubled in price.

I think the Argentium with your peridot will be wonderful, and I'll look forward to seeing the thread when it's finished.

 

[stargurl78]

The price for gold is just jaw-dropping these days. My DH and I calculated that the cost for a project I had intended to start at this time last year but delayed has now doubled in price.

I think the Argentium with your peridot will be wonderful, and I'll look forward to seeing the thread when it's finished.

I agree, it makes me sick. I have stopped buying colored stones because with the increase in the cost of gold and diamonds I just can't afford to set them anymore. I have 2 more stones that I have to set and then I'll just have to live vicariously through pricescope

Thank you, I think the silver is a much better choice for my ring as well. It really would be nuts to spend that much on a simple peridot ring if I had gone with the white gold. Julia said that the ring should be completed sometime next week so I'll post pics once I receive them!

 

[texaskj]

SG, I would get the silver and save the $$$. That's too much for a peridot, unless it was something special. FYI, argentium silver doesn't usually weigh as much as regular sterling. It took a little while to get used to, but I've been very happy with the setting Danielm did for my tourmaline in argentium.

 

[kt]

My DanielM ring i'm having made went up about $100 just in 1 month be/c of my holding off starting it...i'm selling off a ton of just old gold & silver jewelry to take advantage of pricing to fund another setting project, I think!

 

[stargurl78]

texaskj - I emailed JKT to let her know I'll be going with the silver. I agree that the white gold would have cost too much for the peridot. Thank you for sharing your experience with argentium silver!

kt - Wow that's a big difference! Did you still decide to go ahead with the project? I am thinking of selling a few things too, since prices are so high right now. Where do you sell them? eBay or pawn shop or jewelry store?

 

[kt]

I still ended up going with the project as I've been waiting to have a ring made by Daniel for MONTHS!! The problem was I got a spinel for a design he did I really loved, but then the spinel had a glaring (to me) inclusion that I couldn't deal with, I returned it, and i haven't been able to find a replacement. I got another stone, in the meantime, that I just adore - I call her my pseudo-pad, as she's a nice mix of pinky-orange - and am having Daniel halo it for me. So, I sent that out a couple of weeks ago and I should be getting CADs etc. soon.

As for selling the gold - Daniel will actually buy metal, but I ended up taking it somewhere local here to save on shipping etc. and they were offering a slightly better price. But I wouldn't go through ebay cuz I just am too scared (and busy!) to deal with selling online. I don't know of any pawn shops near me, or else i'd be shopping there all the time! I'm hoping that if I wait a bit longer, metal will go down and i will have done well with my scrap-selling, and I can get another ring (or earrings!)

 

[jstarfireb]

I see you've made your decision but would absolutely choose silver. Argentium silver is very sturdy; my argentium pieces have barely a scratch on them, and definitely no structural issues with the shape of the band. My opinion is also that the setting shouldn't be substantially more expensive than the stone, and spending nearly a grand to set a peridot, which tend to be inexpensive stones, would bother me a lot. I also don't like the look of unplated white gold (it's too yellow), so I'd rather have a tarnish-resistant argentium silver piece than a white gold one that will yellow as the rhodium wears off. I rarely ever get any white gold these days because of the cost as well as the need for replating.

 

[stargurl78]

kt - I can't wait to see your ring once its completed! Be sure to post pics

jstarfireb - I did a little research on argentium silver yesterday and I think I will be very pleased with it, it seems to be a much better choice than regular sterling. I wish I would have known about it sooner because I just sent 2 stones to Sally to be set and I went with white gold for one of them. I probably could have saved a few hundred by going with silver. Oh well, you live and you learn...