Which White Metal to Choose?

[mr.adventure]

I''ve been doing a lot of research on engagement ring metals, and I know I want to get a ring that is a white metal. I''m definitely leaning toward platinum, since it''s more durable than white gold. Does anyone have any advice as to which metal I should choose? I want a ring that looks something like this:

Hearts on Fire Ring

Thanks for your input!

 

[Skippy123]

I have platinum and like the weight of it; feels substantial to me. There are pros and cons to both. Welcome to Pricescope by the way.

check this out http://journal.pricescope.com/Articles/47/1/An-Overview-Of-Common-Alloys-Used-In-Jewelry.aspx beautiful setting by the way!

 

[jstarfireb]

I have platinum...I love the smoothness and the weight of it. I wouldn''t say platinum is necessarily more durable; it scratches easily, but they polish right out. The big advantage is that you don''t have to plate it. I wanted to avoid white gold because I work with my hands all the time and would have to keep on replating it. Palladium is a good cheaper alternative to platinum, but the jeweler I worked with (Whiteflash) didn''t use it at the time I got my ring. They do now.

 

[atroop711]

it''s such a personal decision...some ppl love platinum and some don''t. I had my first e-ring with platinum and hated it. Very heavy and scratched up so easily that it drove me nuts. The ring lost it luster and was annoying to look at. I could have gotten it fixed but didn''t want to go through this constantly. I have white gold and love it. Have had it for 4 yrs and still looks great.

Like I said..it''s all a personal choice GL!

 

[musey]

Very, very personal decision.

My personal feeling is that you have to love the way it wears, not just the way it looks new. That''s where the real difference is, to me. Platinum develops its patina, and white gold yellows. Both can be restored to brand-new appearance but it''s not practical to desire your ring to look "new" all the time.

I happen to fall into the "love the way platinum wears" camp, so it''s just perfect for me. I love palladium as well, but haven''t seen as much of it in person. While white gold is beautiful in its own right, I just prefer the "aged" look of platinum to the "aged" look of white gold.

 

[ficklefaye]

i''m in the platinum court as well, i haven''t had my setting for very long, but i am willing to accept the patina ''personality'' my ring will develop over time

 

[TheDoctor]

Not all WG yellows, but most of what is commercially available does.
There are at least 2 North American refineries who produce high-karat, high-white alloys for jewellery production, but not many of the manufacturers are willing to change old habits with their usage of white gold. Some don''t want to spend the extra dollars per gram. Rhodium Rules.
The default metal of choice is a beige-white grain that casts well and is relatively soft, lending itself well to stone setting by people with marginal training. (Metal displaces instead of stone breakage) This is one of platinum''s advantages, it is soft and will collapse around a stone, conforming easily to the stone''s shape and facet orientation. It''s favoured by manufactureres who wish to cut their own breakage losses.
Can''t tell you which is better. it depends on your expectations. Most cast platinum settings develop permanent distortion issues over time. High white gold won''t.
(Manufacturers who haven''t used the high whites will tell you that the prongs are brittle and can snap off, with diamond loss as a result.)
Donkey dust. I picked up that expression on PS, love it.

We use 19 K white gold (80% pure gold with proprietary alloys added) which is as hard as stainless steel, absolutely white, and scratch/bend resistant beyond nearly everyone''s belief. We have 10 year old engagement rings out there that come back for cleaning/polishing where the stones are all tight and the wear is only superficial. 5 minutes in the ultrasonic, a 3 minute polish, and our client is out the door. Platinum rings take eons longer to bring back to "as new"condition.

I hope this was helpful, but I suspect that it only clouded the issue. Good luck!

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 7/20/2009 8:42:40 PM
Author: TheDoctor
Not all WG yellows, but most of what is commercially available does.

There are at least 2 North American refineries who produce high-karat, high-white alloys for jewellery production, but not many of the manufacturers are willing to change old habits with their usage of white gold. Some don''t want to spend the extra dollars per gram. Rhodium Rules.

The default metal of choice is a beige-white grain that casts well and is relatively soft, lending itself well to stone setting by people with marginal training. (Metal displaces instead of stone breakage) This is one of platinum''s advantages, it is soft and will collapse around a stone, conforming easily to the stone''s shape and facet orientation. It''s favoured by manufactureres who wish to cut their own breakage losses.

Can''t tell you which is better. it depends on your expectations. Most cast platinum settings develop permanent distortion issues over time. High white gold won''t.

(Manufacturers who haven''t used the high whites will tell you that the prongs are brittle and can snap off, with diamond loss as a result.)

Donkey dust. I picked up that expression on PS, love it.

We use 19 K white gold (80% pure gold with proprietary alloys added) which is as hard as stainless steel, absolutely white, and scratch/bend resistant beyond nearly everyone''s belief. We have 10 year old engagement rings out there that come back for cleaning/polishing where the stones are all tight and the wear is only superficial. 5 minutes in the ultrasonic, a 3 minute polish, and our client is out the door. Platinum rings take eons longer to bring back to ''as new''condition.

I hope this was helpful, but I suspect that it only clouded the issue. Good luck!

As you said, how often is this proprietary alloy used in the jewelry industry? Which is why we say it is safer to go with Pt. There are also Pt alloy out there that are as hard as steel and used for tension setting, it is also proprietary and not in wide spread use.

 

[Black Jade]

I love my platinum ring. I love how it feels heavy and sort of silky. I also like the fact that I don''t have any allergy issues with it. I don''t have allergy issues with high carat gold (I have a lot of 22k jewelry) but I have had allergy issues with 14k.

I have had my platinum ring over a year and it hasn''t changed in appearance. I don''t know if that''s not enough time for a patina to develop? It has no scratches and looks just the same. I do polish it once a week with a silver polishing cloth (jeweler''s rouge). I read somewhere that this delays platinum developing the patina.

I tend not to like white gold, which often looks like nickel or stainless steel to me, like it belongs on a car bumper, not on a ring, and I REALLY dislike the bright white look of rhodium plate. However, my diamond stud earrings from whiteflash are white gold and I''m very happy with them. I haven''t had allergy issues,they feel heavy and substantial and they''re fine. I don''t know if this is because they''re earrings though, so you don''t see as much metal as you do with a ring. I''m not sure if they''re 14k or 18K though.

Don''t know if this was helpful or not.

 

[motownmama]

FYI, I have worn WG pendant, studs, tennis bracelet and RHR 24/7 for about 5 years and have never had to have any of it replated - not yellow at all! I think it has something to do with your body chenistry too and mine just does not react that way. Believe me, if have compared it to new pieces at my jeweler tp see if I''m crazy! However, if you''re leaning toward plat - go for it!

 

[Kaleigh]

My vote is for platinum. But have had great experiences with WG, so there ya go.

 

[glitterata]

I strongly prefer platinum. I love the weight and the patina it develops.

I dislike white gold, which feels like light, imitation platinum to me. I dislike the not-white-not-yellow color of unplated white gold, and I hate the glaring nickel-finished look of rhodium plating. I agree with Black Jade--to me it looks like it belongs on a bathroom fixture, not on jewelry. If I couldn't have platinum, I would rather sterling silver than white gold.

 

[mr.adventure]

Wow, thanks so much for all your help! I''m very confident now in my decision to get platinum... the durability, rarity, and natural whiteness of platinum make it seem like an obvious choice!

Thanks again so much!

 

[iota]

Walking around the high-end local jewellers in my city, 19K white gold is often used. All of the jewellers tell me that it does NOT need rhodium plating and it's a shiny, sparkly white metal.

At first, I saw it in a lower level store and thought, you must be joking, how can 19K white gold not need plating.... But store after store told me the same thing. This patented metal comes from one supplier, who mixes the gold in some patented recipe. It looks beautiful though and it's more scratch-resistant than platium, so it keeps it's luster. Apparently, it's really strong too.

Something to consider over platium... It is more expensive than 18K white gold, but less than platinum.