What metal is this setting from the 20s or 30s?

[Gayletmom]

I sometimes wear my husband''s grandmother''s engagement ring which I presume is from the 20s or 30s. A jeweler (in whom I don''t have alot of faith) once told me that it is white gold. I am confused, however, after reading on these boards about WG having a yellow tint or "turning". The metal on this ring is a bright silver color, almost sterling like.

Any thoughts or guesses on what this might be? I am curious b/c I am looking for a setting that I can wear with my YG wedding band and am told that plat won''t do. Would appreciate your input.

 

[neatfreak]

If it's a low karat white gold (i.e., a lot of alloys) then it'll be less likely to turn yellowish even over time. A jeweler can test it easily enough.

As for something you could get now, Whiteflash has white gold that is alloyed with palladium, which is supposed to stay whiter and also would be safe to wear with your gold band.

 

[swingirl]

I have an antique ring from the teens or twenties that is white gold and it is almost the same color as my platinum ring. I've not had it replated and it shows no sign of needed it. I've worn it everyday for a year and it is not yellowing at all. So I don't know what's so different about the metal they used 80 years ago but my ring seems to be holding up quite well.

 

[MustangGal]

I also have an antigue e-ring froun about 1930, and it''s bright white too. I think they used irridium as an alloy at that time?

 

[glitterata]

White gold is made by alloying (mixing) gold, which in its pure form is a deep, rich, almost orangy yellow, with various other metals, such as silver, nickel, palladium, etc. The exact color depends on the mix of metals.

Some alloys are a little yellowish. To make jewelry made from these alloys look whiter, jewelers sometimes plate the jewelry with rhodium, which gives it a bright, white finish. But eventually it wears off, sometimes slowly, sometimes more quickly, depending on your skin chemistry, how hard you are on your rings, how you clean them, etc. That''s what people usually mean when they say white gold turns yellowish. It''s not the white gold changing color, it''s the rhodium plating wearing off.

If your grandmother''s ring was made from a whiter alloy, it might not have been plated in the first place.

Gold jewelry can tarnish, when the non-gold metals in the alloy react with chemicals in the air. (Oxygen? Sulfur? Someone who knows more chemistry than I do might want to jump in here.) But that usually happens very slowly.

Why were you told not to wear platinum with your yellow gold wedding ring? Are you afraid the platinum will wear away the gold?

If your wedding ring is yellow gold, why not just get a yellow gold setting to wear with it? Or are you going for the two-tone look?

 

[Elmorton]

Both my grandmothers have wg rings that never turned...I was told that this is because they used to have such a high concentration of nickel in the alloy. Modern wg does not have such high concentrations because so many people had allergic reactions to it.

...Of course, I asked the jeweler why they couldn't just make the old stuff and just market it to those of us who have tough skin, haha.

ETA: Why were you told plat won't work? The rubbing issue?

I have a palladium wedding band with a wg ring...you might look into palladium. While it's not recommended, a bunch of us mix metals with no problems.

 

[LGK]

Yes, antique white gold has much higher nickel content. It gives it a beautiful silvery glow, which needs no rhodium plating and has no yellow tones at all. Unfortunately a lot of people are allergic to it. So, sometime around the 1970s (IIRC) white gold was alloyed differently with less nickel, and was usually rhodium plated, and a bit yellowy when not plated.

 

[Gayletmom]

Thanks to all for the info. Glitterata and Elmorton: I have a YG wedding band but I want to mix the two metal colors. I wear both all the time and like the look. And I think I may have convinced my husband that it''s not "weird" when I found some pics on the Royal thread here (in the Jewelry forum) showing a couple of princesses with YG bands and plat or WG e rings. A couple of folks here advised me that wearing the plat and YG together for years (which I am hoping to do) might wear down the YG. I''m considering other options.

 

[glitterata]

I see.

If you wear gold rings for years and years, either alone or with other rings, eventually they''ll wear down. Wearing them with platinum might make it go a little faster. But the only way to keep them looking new is not to wear them.

I love the look of a well-worn wedding ring. There''s something touching about it.

 

[kimikocat]

If you wear a harder metal, such as silver or plat, next to your YG ring, the harder metal will slowly wear down the metal in the YG. You can polish the ring again -- if you are after a mirror-like finish -- but over time your ring will wear thinner and thinner (you might have seen older rings in estate/antique jewelry stores where the shanks are quite thin...).

That said, if you love the look, there''s no reason not to do it. It takes a long time to wear through a ring. Some PSers change up their rings -- so if you''re in that school, you might be ready for a new ring by that point!