Why does white gold have to be replated?

[yellowsparkles]

Please excuse me for my ignorance on this subject, but I don''t understand why white gold has to be re-plated? I have had a pair of 18 K white gold earrings for the last 5+ years (that I wear everyday -never take them out) and I have never had to replate them. On pricescope, people keep saying that whitegold will have to be re-plated. Why is that? Are there different compositions? My earrings still look great, why?

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 4/26/2007 1:43:22 PM
Author:yellowsparkles
Please excuse me for my ignorance on this subject, but I don''t understand why white gold has to be re-plated? I have had a pair of 18 K white gold earrings for the last 5+ years (that I wear everyday -never take them out) and I have never had to replate them. On pricescope, people keep saying that whitegold will have to be re-plated. Why is that? Are there different compositions? My earrings still look great, why?

It doesnt'' HAVE to be replated. In fact when I was going to have my ring done in WG I wasn''t going to plate it in the first place. White gold is everso *slightly* yellow relative to rhodium and for some people it really bugs them. Personally, I *prefer* the creamy hue over the greyish hue of platinum. But if you''re going for that look of platinum, rhodium plating does the trick. Eventually rhodium wears off... but if you like the color of your earrings then it really doesn''t matter if they''re plated or not

 

[yellowsparkles]

Thanks Sara, I still don't see a difference in my white gold earrings and plat wedding band.... except for the scratches on the band.

I guess the color difference is too subtle for me to notice!?

 

[kcoursolle]

WG needs to be replated because it''s not naturally white like platinum, the natural metal has a subtle tint of yellow.

However, how often you need to get it replated depends on your skin chemicals, how often you wear it, and how often you bang it around and wear it out, etc. Also, some people have more of a tolerance for the yellow tint than others. I hate the tint of yellow and take it in immediately when I see it while my friend goes years with the tint of yellow not bothering her before she replates it.

Some people (like me) need to have their stuff replated 2x a year, while others (like you apparently) need to replate it less.

 

[ladykemma]

and some people. like me, hate the color of rhodium, and actually like the yellowy color of white gold.