Unplated White Gold?

[emari0718]

Hey everyone,

My finance needs to decide on a wedding band. He wants a simple style - 4.5mm comfort fit. However, he is having trouble with the the type of metal. He has seen on some men what appears to be a cross between gold and silver with a matte / dull finish. He did some searches online and the pictures he sees that he likes are of unplated white gold bands. Do people actually buy and wear unplated white gold?

If anyone has any experience with this I would love to hear it. I'm also open to suggestions of alternatives if anyone has any.

Thanks so much!

 

[Frenchcut]

I do have an unplated white gold ring that I love because there's no need to replate it and it's developed a nice patina. If your fiance liles this look (it's not as shiny as plated white gold) he has to see it in person. Mine comes from Cartier who calls it grey gold but I'm certain it can be found at other places.

Also, it doesn't turn yellow with time (i've had my ring for more than five years and. Ear it very often).

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Sure, I think unplated white gold is an excellent option for a man's ring since it wouldn't have to be replated. It would appear to be a very light yellow gold.

 

[TC1987]

I don't know that I'd call it "light yellow." Platinum and polished sterling silver are glare-white, and white gold is still white but has more of a buttey note to it. It tends a little more toward the color of polished nickel metal, usually. It doesn't look like yellow metal, to me.

But Stuller has a new line of white gold that is a different alloy and it's supposed to be whiter and also retain its "whiteness" without having to be rhodium plated.

I believe Yessie's 5-stone ring is unplated white gold.

 

[emari0718]

Thanks for the advice! I actually called Cartier and asked them about the "grey gold / unplated white gold" you mentioned and they had no idea what I was talking about Maybe it was just the person I spoke to.

Does anyone know where we can go to see unplated white gold in person?

 

[cygnet]

I don't know that I'd call it "light yellow." Platinum and polished sterling silver are glare-white, and white gold is still white but has more of a buttey note to it. It tends a little more toward the color of polished nickel metal, usually. It doesn't look like yellow metal, to me.

But Stuller has a new line of white gold that is a different alloy and it's supposed to be whiter and also retain its "whiteness" without having to be rhodium plated.

I believe Yessie's 5-stone ring is unplated white gold.

Yes, Yssie's ring is unplated WG and it's amaaaaaazing. I'd post a link but I'm using my phone right now, so too much work. You can do a search for Yssie and find her thread easily enough though.

Also to the right should be links to similar threads.

 

[emari0718]

I saw Yssie's ring and it's very very pretty.

 

[yssie]

Aww thanks cygnet!

They sure do

I have several pieces - the fivestone TC and cygnet mentioned, some older settings, a handful of bands... all of my wg rings are 18k. Different alloys and different compositions do produce visibly different colours - some of them pass for 10k yg, they really are "pale yellow", some is just this side of icy white.

I should say that I love the colours, but WG isn't a good substitute for plat - if that's what you'd prefer I'd suggest palladium. My DH's band is palladium and it does wear similarly to plat, but it's a lot lighter. Some people are allergic to Ni and it's possible to develop an allergy over time so Ni-wg may not be for someone who tends toward sensitive skin - my DBL fivestone is palladium-wg (no Ni) and it's the "just this side of icy white" colour.

I'm copying some posts from other threads that you might find helpful re. actual colour. I don't really like pics for colour demos since they're never exactly true to life but maybe this helps show the differences, since it's kinda tough to go to your local store and ask to see a bunch of different wg alloys..!

A - plat (950/ru)
B - unplated 18k nickel wg from e-wb, custom piece (different manufacturer, wore it with the WF three-stone, good match in all lights)
75% Au, 15% Cu, 4.5% Zn, 4% Ni
C - unplated 18k nickel wg from e-wb, stock piece
?? TBD
D - plated wg from WF
E - 22k




B, C, A above
G - unplated 18k palladium wg from DBL


Not a good pic, but for composition reference -



A - 14k rose gold
B - unplated 18k nickel wg from WF, custom Ering
75% Au, 9.8% Cu, 9.8% Ni, 5.22% Zn
C - unplated 18k nickel wg from e-wb, custom band (wore it with the WF three-stone, good match in all lights)
75% Au, 15% Cu, 4.5% Zn, 4% Ni
D - unplated 18k nickel wg from e-wb, stock piece (a bit lighter/whiter than B/C)
?? TBD
E - plat (950/ru)
F - plated 18k wg from WF
G - sterling
H - 22k

Apparently Ni-wg isn't produced in NZ, so back in April Mike at RDG (super-duper-awesomely!!) sent out to have some made up to look at, based on what my current rings are made of
(Mike okayed sharing these)

1%Ni-wg : 75% Au, 4% Ag, 7% Cu, 1% Ni, 12% Pd, 1% Zn
4%Ni-wg : 75% Au, 17% Cu, 4% Ni, 4% Zn
9%Ni-wg : 75% Au, 10% Cu, 10% Ni, 5% Zn



L - RDG palladium-wg, R - 1%Ni-wg polished


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Top - RDG palladium-wg, 4%Ni-wg unpolished

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

L - RDG palladium-wg, R - 4%Ni-wg polished



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

9%Ni-wg & 4%Ni-wg unpolished

 

[LittleRiver]

He should also consider X1 white gold, which is bright white and does not require rhodium plating. My SO's wedding band is 14k X1 white gold and looks very similar in color to my platinum band, which is 90% platinum/10% iridium.

 

[denverappraiser]

Hey everyone,

My finance needs to decide on a wedding band. He wants a simple style - 4.5mm comfort fit. However, he is having trouble with the the type of metal. He has seen on some men what appears to be a cross between gold and silver with a matte / dull finish. He did some searches online and the pictures he sees that he likes are of unplated white gold bands. Do people actually buy and wear unplated white gold?

If anyone has any experience with this I would love to hear it. I'm also open to suggestions of alternatives if anyone has any.

Thanks so much!

I personally wear an unplated white gold ring and I rather like the patina.

 

[distracts]

It would appear to be a very light yellow gold.

Well, it would appear to be white gold. Just most people don't know what that actually looks like...