Letter 38025

White gold jewelry needs to be irradiated  

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My Son and future Daughter-in-law bought a white gold engagement ring and they told us it has to be irradiated (spelling) every 90 days. What does that mean? My Grand Mothers white gold jewelry doesn't need anything done to it.

Rob L Harnage
Contractor - Dayton, OH

Could they have misheard it and they meant "iridium plated" or possibly "rhodium plated". Most white gold is an alloy of gold and copper with silver and/or nickel added; however, some jewellers plate the white gold with rhodium to give it better contrast. If the gold is plated, the plating wears off quite readily and will need to be replated. Why don't they consider having platinum jewellery if they don't like the colour of gold?

Trevor Crichton R&D practical scientist - UK

Hi, there should be no reason to "irradiate" jewelery. That terminology literally means "to subject the jewelry to ionizing radiation..." like the stuff that kills people from nuclear weapons. Irradiation is used in some select commercial applications because it kills microorganisms; but there should be no reason to do it to jewelry. A cleaning with soap and water should be good enough, or an occasional ultrasonic cleaning. Of course see a jeweler for the best possible info.

Mark Jones
- Toledo, Ohio, USA

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