Unplated 18k white gold question

[armywife13]

I have been considering the option of setting my L/M colored OEC in unplated white gold, I love the color of Yssie's rings. I have been trying to do a little research, but there are a few questions I haven't found answers to.....

Do rings with unplated 18k white gold scratch? If so, is there any way to get rid of the scratches?

What is the best blend of unplated white gold?

Thanks!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

All gold scratches and wears away over time. On my original engagement ring, the shank became thinner on the bottom side and the tips of the prongs wore down over the years. I eventually had the prongs retipped. My gold rings always looked fine without polishing, though, You shouldn't polish gold rings because it wears away the gold. The scratches are tiny and really don't hurt how the ring looks. And worst case scenario, if you didn't like the finish at any point, you could always have it rhodium plated. Just remember that there may be issues if you ever have to have it sized. I'd probably send it back to the maker for that.

 

[yssie]

I have been considering the option of setting my L/M colored OEC in unplated white gold, I love the color of Yssie's rings. I have been trying to do a little research, but there are a few questions I haven't found answers to.....

Do rings with unplated 18k white gold scratch? If so, is there any way to get rid of the scratches?

What is the best blend of unplated white gold?

Thanks!

Aww, thank you! I'm excited to see so many people thinking about experimenting with gold colours lately - it's so interesting to see how everything turns out!


Some observations just from what I've owned -

Yes, it will scratch, like DS says. My cast 18k Ni-wg (the WF three-stone) scratched in a kinda-sorta-patina-esque fashion - a really light sheen of light scratches all over. It wasn't like platinum patina, which turns the metal obviously matte compared to a newly polished piece - it's a subtle difference, and was still clearly and unarguably "polished to high shine", just this very soft layer dulling the mirror finish a bit.

OTOH I wear my two 18k Ni-wg die-struck bands (both from e-wb) around the house doing chores and there's no faux-patina or "sheen" whatsoever. The metal treatment is clearly more scratch-resistent - only deeper scratches actually mark the rings, and I can point out the start and end of every one, and between those scratches both rings are still literally mirror-shiny. I know that eventually it'll get scratched all over and there won't be any in-between surface left to shine, but from what I've seen so far that's still a long time away!

On the third hand - I dropped my WF ring quite a few times onto some unfortunate surfaces and it never did anything but scratch. I knocked my handforged VC off the bathroom counter onto the tile and it chipped a little bit where it landed on the shank. Nothing drastic, but it did surprise me, and now I'm thinking that the "softness" of cast metal has some definite advantages when we're talking about a brittle alloy like Ni-wg! My die-struck bands have some little chips too, but they've been treated very poorly, all things considered

I haven't worn my new DBL 18k Pd-wg long enough to find out how it behaves, the head is handforged and the shank is cast so it'll be interesting to see how it wears.

I don't know how much real-world difference plating makes - the plating is microns thick so my assumption is that it really doesn't make a difference, but I wouldn't swear to anything.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Yssie..get a rug to go in front of your bathroom vanity!

(Plating just returns the shine to a piece that is a little dull from scratches. It isn't going to fill in deep scratches, I don't think. It just coats them with shiny metal!)

 

[yssie]

Yssie..get a rug to go in front of your bathroom vanity!

Got a bunch the same afternoon!!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Yssie..get a rug to go in front of your bathroom vanity!

Got a bunch the same afternoon!!

Perfect!!!

 

[armywife13]

Thank you both for the information! I really appreciate it