Tell me what to expect from palladium

[kindred]

I am getting ready to order a palladium ring. After all the talk here about 14k and its maintenance, I want to make sure I know what I am getting into.

I am looking at a shared prong setting, not from JA, but similar to the one below:
http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/settings-with-matching-bands/18k-White-Gold-2mm-Art-Nouveau-Pave-Set-Diamond-Wedding-Set.html

My understanding is the the patina of palladium is similar to platinum's, and can normally be polished out. But how does that work with a setting with lots of little diamonds? Can the metal between the stones be polished, or will I just have to get used to a dull metal look?

You are all so wonderfully helpful here, and I know you won't steer me wrong.

 

[Gypsy]

Palladium can be hard for some benches to work with. You best bet is to call around to a few places that do repairs in house and ask your questions of them (call around to 5 or 6 places). That setting has the melee contained within the top (no bulging out), so it should be polishable on all the flat sides and come up brand new. As for polishing between stones, I'm not positive, but I don't think that they do that.

 

[MqLove]

My understanding is that palladium doesn't tarnish, so the polishing is just to get out all the little scratches that comes from daily wear - that's the patina. You'd only need to polish between the stones if you manage to get it scratched there, which seems unlikely, since it's difficult to get to, and that's why it's hard to polish.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

And you need to consider that not just any jeweler can size palladium. Another choice is the Stuller X1 white gold that does not need plating if you look at the Best White Gold Alloys thread.

 

[Winks_Elf]

If you're allergic to nickel, steer clear of the X1 as the way it is made so white is it is made with lots of nickel.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Stuller says it's X1 meets or exceeds the European nickel release requirements which are strict.