Wearing platinum and white gold together?

[northstar_78]

Should it be done? I love this 14K white gold ring but the only bands I like to match are platinum.

 

[Momoftwo]

I did it. My original e-ring was 14k white gold and my wedding band was platinum and diamonds. They looked the same to me and no one could tell they weren''t the same. When we upgraded we went with yg. If I remember right, platinum is harder than gold though and can wear the side of the gold ring, but that would take years. I still have my platinum ring and sometimes wear it since I''ve had it sized up from a 4 to 5 so it fits again. Two kids and 24 years and a few pounds and it was too small. Buy the ring you want since you have to wear it.

 

[orange_horse_fiance]

my mom''s rings are like that! She has had her engagement ring and wedding band for 30 plus years and it was not until a jeweler told he rin the last couple of years that they were different did she know! She didn''t care, it isn''t obvious and never was. I say do what you like since the only one that has to be happy is you!

 

[JCJD]

I''ve been wondering this same thing, so I''m bumping this thread up.

FI and I are looking at plat and nickel-free white gold for my w-ring (and his), and I wonder if anybody has experience with wearing a plat and wg ring together without soldering. Did your wg yellow with time? Did the plat ring wear the wg a lot? How long was it before you noticed the wg wearing/yellowing? With the price of plat so high lately, I''m leaning towards wg for my w-ring, but I''m so afraid of it turning yellow on me or my plat ering wearing down the wg. Any opinions/advice/insight is appreciated!! Thanks!

 

[Ivy]

Date: 1/11/2005 11

9:39 AM
Author: JCJD
I've been wondering this same thing, so I'm bumping this thread up.

FI and I are looking at plat and nickel-free white gold for my w-ring (and his), and I wonder if anybody has experience with wearing a plat and wg ring together without soldering. Did your wg yellow with time? Did the plat ring wear the wg a lot? How long was it before you noticed the wg wearing/yellowing? With the price of plat so high lately, I'm leaning towards wg for my w-ring, but I'm so afraid of it turning yellow on me or my plat ering wearing down the wg. Any opinions/advice/insight is appreciated!! Thanks!

JCJD,

This thread is just perfect for me. My ering is platinum, but my band is wg. I thought that I'd be happy w/ a wg band 'cause after all "who could tell the diff". Well, I've only been married 6 months and my ring looks SO yellow next to my ering now. I'd say it probably started changing 3 months after I got married. Of course, I'm pretty brutal with my hands and I NEVER take it off. Even if I'm not wearing my ering, I always wear my band. It is just a plain 4 mm comfort fit wg band, but I do wish I had gone with a platinum band. What I really want is a shared prong diamond band from Signed Pieces (2mm), but I'd take a 2-3mm plat band.

Anyway, I really love the whiteness of platinum and wish I had gotten the platinum band. I didn't get my new band under my tree this year, but maybe for my 1st anniversary.

I'll try to take some pics tonight when I get home to really show you the difference. I actually don't like wearing them together anymore.

 

[belle]

i''m starting to think (wow, finally!) that the discoloration of wg has something to do with body chemistry. i have a wg rhr that i wear *all* the time. it looks as "white" today as when i got it 5 yrs ago. i have friends that had wg turn yellow after 3months. now, this could also be quality of the plating process as well, but my point is, it is possible to have wg stay "white". i''m just not sure what exactly determines what keeps it that way. good luck!!

 

[lili]

I heard that 18k wg tends to yellow much more than 14k wg.
I have rings in 14k as well as 18k. The 18k one does indeed yellow over time.
The 14k one still remains white as the day I got it 5-6 years ago.

Perhaps the experts can validate that.

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 1/11/2005 2:43:48 PM
Author: lili
I heard that 18k wg tends to yellow much more than 14k wg.
I have rings in 14k as well as 18k. The 18k one does indeed yellow over time.
The 14k one still remains white as the day I got it 5-6 years ago.

Perhaps the experts can validate that.

My promise ring is 14kt and it''s pale yellow now. I have it for a little over a year now.
My ering is 18kt and so far it''s still white after 6 months. I hope the ering doesn''t turn yellow.

However I don''t know the alloy of the two rings. It might have to do with the alloys whether or not it stays white.

 

[Momoftwo]

I wore my platinum wedding ring and 14 wg ering for 10 years with no discoloration of any kind. You really couldn''t tell they were of different metals.

 

[NyssaLynne]

I don''t have any platinum jewelry to be able to compare for you, but I do have 14K WG rings. Oddest thing, only the rings I have had sized change to yellow-ish. Any of the WG rings that fit me when I bought them are still white. Even stranger, it usually takes a few months for them to change, but they only change on the part of the ring that faces my palm. The most odd thing I have had happen was one ring turned yellowish overnight. I bought it one day and it was yellowed on the back the next day. I took it back and the jeweler agreed to have one sent directly from the manufacturer in my size. It took about a month to get it but it is still white to this day, without a hint of yellow.

I was considering getting a platinum 2mm band to go with my WG e-ring. Still not sure if that is the way I want to go.

 

[JCJD]

Hmmmm... so the consensus is, all karats and all alloys of wg will yellow sometimes, on some people, after some arbitrary amount of time... Well, since I don''t want to take any risks on this, it looks like JC and JD will be saving up for a plat diamond band for our 1 year anni! Momoftwo - I''m taking your advice: "Buy the ring you want since you have to wear it."

Our jeweler has some plain plat 2mm wedding rings in stock (i.e. OLD plat prices!!) for $300 that I liked with my ering just as well as the diamond bands, so I might just go with that. Thanks for all of your insight, and more is certainly welcome!

 

[NyssaLynne]

$300 for a plain 2mm platinum band sounds way too high. BlueNile.com sells them for $190. GoldenMine.com sells Benchmark branded platinum 2mm bands for $135. E-weddingbands.com sells a comfort-fit for $198 or a regular band for $163. Even (gasp!) Zales sells them for only $230.

I''m not too sure you are getting OLD platinum prices, especially after my quick price search.

 

[Ivy]

Date: 1/11/2005 10:18:23 PM
Author: NyssaLynne
$300 for a plain 2mm platinum band sounds way too high. BlueNile.com sells them for $190. GoldenMine.com sells Benchmark branded platinum 2mm bands for $135. E-weddingbands.com sells a comfort-fit for $198 or a regular band for $163. Even (gasp!) Zales sells them for only $230.

I''m not too sure you are getting OLD platinum prices, especially after my quick price search.

And Signed Pieces has their platinum bands for $177.65 in various widths, with or without milgrain, or satin or polished finished. Hmmm, I also agree that you may not be getting "old" platinum prices. I''d say shop around, unless they are very unique bands and you just love them.

 

[JCJD]

Wow!! Thanks NyssaLynne and Ivy! I'll definitely shop around now.

Signed Pieces has a 2mm satin finish plat band for $166.95 plus shipping... e-weddingbands.com has a regular 2mm band in my size (4.5) for $157, + $10 for satin/brushed finish.... goldenmine.com is cheaper (as NyssaLynne recorded).... wow! Thanks again!!!


ETA: Goldenmine.com listed the retail price for their $135 plat bands as $240, so the price at the jewelers isn't that far off.... I'd still rather get the wholesale price of course!

 

[orange_horse_fiance]

Are any of you OR have any of you Rhodium plating your white gold? If you haven''t that should help and if you already have why not just do it again? My white gold rings are all rhodium plated and look super. I have one 2carat eternity band I have worn ALOT that looks great still and as I mentioned earlier in the thread my mother''s is indistinguisable from the other and she has NEVER rhodium plated hers....


Just a thought.

 

[Sparkster]

My e-ring is 18k white gold and I went into Tiffanys to look at their diamond wedding bands. The first question the sales rep asked me was what my e-ring was made of. When I told him, he said that I shouldn''t be considering a Tiffanys'' ring because they only make platinum rings. His advice was that it was not a good idea to wear both a white gold and platimum together and the different types of metal would rub up against each other and damage each other. Has anyone else heard if this is true? If it''s not true, why would he give me advice if it would discourage a sale?

 

[Momoftwo]

I''ve heard that since Platinum is harder than gold it can scratch or wear away the gold, but mine were still fine after 10 years.

And, I never had my ring rhodium plated and it didn''t needed it. I rarely wear my platinum wedding band anymore, and the engagement ring was reset in a three stone 14 yg a few years ago and I "sold" the white gold to the jeweler.

 

[JCJD]

Momoftwo - our jeweler also told us that the plat will eventually wear down wg but it'll take a long while for it to have a structural consequence (wearing down prongs enough that you might loose a stone), plus we can take it in to be fixed by them anytime, no charge. I'm still so worried about the wg turning yellow on me because of whatever - reacting with my skin chemistry, wearing down from plat rubbing, bad quality of the alloy or karats or whatever, or of having an allergic reaction to any nickel that might be in it that I'm just going to go for plat. It'll just be easier for my worrying mind.

 

[JCJD]

Well, it turns out that white gold DEFINITELY reacts with my skin and turns yellow-ish. I just learned that often jewelers will use white gold solder for platinum jewelry pieces, which perfectly explains why the solder holding the prong basket onto the band gets a golden sheen a couple days after cleaning... So I''m getting platinum for my wedding band. Just thought I''d share!

 

[Ivy]

Date: 1/6/2005 1:40:20 PM
Author:northstar_78
Should it be done? I love this 14K white gold ring but the only bands I like to match are platinum.

I''m finally getting around to posting my pictures of my platinum ering and wg band. Like I posted before, I''m very unhappy with the wg band. It yellowed within the first 3 months of wearing it and I just won''t wear it with my ering. I''ll probably get a plain 2 mm platinum band, but what I''d really love is a 2mm wide diamond eternity band from Signed Pieces.

My sister also has a wg band with her platinum ering and she already had her band re-rodium plated after just one year being married. It''s not very expensive to do, but I''d just rather not have worry about it. And IMO you can definitely tell a difference between wg and platinum. Some people don''t mind having it rodiumed again, but I''d just rather not have to.

I suppose (if possible) you should get the ring you love.

 

[Ivy]

This was taken on our wedding day. Too bad it yellowed so quickly. I'll never get rid of it, but I just won't wear it with my ering.

 

[jennalyns]

this is interesting to me... my mom has worn her 14k white gold set for 25 years, only takes it off to clean and shower, and it shows no yellow whatsoever; she's never had it replated. maybe the new alloys are different, because my mom's had her ring sized several times, prongs fixed, etc, and no yellowing. My 18K ring is yellowing; when I got it resized it was almost totally plae yellow and I cried because I thought the Japanese jeweler destroyer it- he said something about plating and I thought he'd plated it with yellow gold or something... (my Japanese skills are pretty sad!) After I looked online and figured it out, I had them re-plate it and it's fine... I also have 10K WG rings and necklaces that have never had any work, and they're as white as the day I got them... so maybe the resizing is the problem with newer alloys? hmm... I had no idea about the rhodium plating when I got the ring though, neither did my fh... if someone had told us we might've gone with platinum.

 

[Ivy]

My mom wore her wg wedding set for many many years also and it never seemed to lose that "white" look to it. I guess it''s just some people have a reaction and others don''t. I know plenty of people that are completely pleased with their wg ring...no problems at all.

 

[NewShiny]

Is there anyone else out there who can show me pics of a white gold ering with a platium wedding band? DH just bought me an antique 5 stone anniversary band (that looks just like my grandmas but the diamonds are a tiny bit bigger, its thin and the diamonds are maybe 3mm each) that is white gold for our upcoming first anniversary. (Sorry, no pics ''till October. DH hid the ring as soon as we got home from buying it. I''ve looked and looked around the house, believe me, but I still can''t find it!

.)

Before we stumbled upon this great find, he had planned to get me a 4mm plain platinum wedding ring that I could wear when my "regular" wedding set is inappropriate (rare outdoorsy activities, even rarer vacations out of the country . . .). My wedding bands and ering are soldiered (sp??) together so I can''t wear them separate.

Anyway, so instead of getting a 4mm plat wedding ring, I''m thinking of getting a 2mm plat wedding ring to wear with this new anniversary ring. But the anny ring is white gold, so I hesitate. Should I get a white gold band? I just don''t think the WG plain band will last as a heirloom, but I don''t want a plat/wg combo to look weird either. Thus, the request for pics.

Thanks!
NS

 

[gailrmv]

I don''t have any pics, but an opinion: It''s my preference when things match, so I''d try to keep the same metals if it is feasible. I find that WG and plat look indistinguishable when both are freshly polished and plated (the WG), but over time each takes on its own distinct look. While subtle, this would bug me a bit.

 

[tmdblue]

Here is a link to my wedding set link . The e-ring is set in white gold and the eternity band is platinum. I plan on having my e-ring setting changed to platinum next year just to avoid the whole yellowing issue and also just to have the smae metal for both. Hope this helps.


tmdblue

 

[phoenixgirl]

My grandmother's original set was a platinum engagement ring with a white gold setting.

The engagement ring was very nice for young newlyweds (married in 1931). Recently my mother showed me a telegram that my grandmother sent my grandfather informing him that her family was excited about the wedding so they should scrap the elopement idea, but they would need to wait three weeks so she could plan it properly. Three weeks to plan a wedding!!! And my uncle wasn't born for a year and a half, so I guess the urgency was just wanting to be married already.

Because of this and what I suspect were money constraints, her wedding band (as far as we could tell from going through her jewelry after her death -- she had worn a large anniversary ring as long as I knew her) was a tiny little white gold ring with poor quality, miniscule diamonds. So I figure they just rushed out and bought what they could afford and take home in three weeks. But hats off to my grandmother for getting diamonds even with a small budget or time constraints!

I suspect my grandmother never really liked the band and replaced it as soon as possible because it had never been resized, whereas the engagement ring had. Or perhaps the engagement ring was given later. It did have her married initials inscribed in it, so it must have been. Wow, I am figuring this out as I write! It's never been appraised, but I would guess it to be 1/2 a carat, set in this neat fish prong (I think?) setting that made the round diamond seem almost square, with three side stones channel set on either side. The side stones were raised up above the band part of the ring, so there was a little slit between the band and the channel setting.

Anyway, back to your question, the white gold and platinum didn't look mismatched to me, even after all of these years. Unfortunately, I don't have pics. Will have to remember to take my camera next time I visit my parents.

 

[lizz]

I have a pave platinum e-ring and a WG pave w-band. If it were the other way around, I wouldn''t wear a platinum w-band with a WG e-ring since the platinum would wear away the rhodium plating on the e-ring. But since my w-band was cheap, it doesn''t bother me that the rhodium will wear away eventually. I tend to not have problems with the rhodium plating wearing off easily on any of my WG jewelry. I have never had anything replated yet.

 

[NewShiny]

All,
Thanks for your responses. I think I''m going to go with a 2mm WG gold band to wear with this anniversary ring, and wait until next year (maybe sooner if I''m lucky) and the 4mm plat band later.

Why choose when I can (eventually) have both!

Thanks again,
NS