White gold or Rhodium plated confusion or deception

Letter 13132

White gold or Rhodium plated confusion or deception

Ed. note; This is an interesting thread, and only one of many. Before you get too confused, you might want to start with our FAQ on Rhodium Plating and White Gold to get an overall understanding :-)

My son just bought a "white gold" engagement ring. After just 3 weeks it started to change to yellow. My reading tells me that there is a white gold alloy, and a rhodium dipped (plated) white gold. Is this true? If so, how does the public know what they are buying? Can they both be sold as "white gold"?

Ronald Anderson
- Hicksville, New York

Rhodium plating is brilliantly, dazzlingly, reflective and diamond-like -- there is no other material in the world like it. White gold is a mix of yellow gold plus other metals that bleach it whiter, and it is soft and somewhat dull. With just a few minutes of experience and looking at samples you'll never mistake rhodium plating for unplated. Our FAQ is a good summary of why you would want one or the other.

But here's the problem in brief: besides rhodium plating being of highly varying quality, it should be applied only to high quality, very white, white gold. Then, when the plating starts to wear thin there will be little contrast. But today it is applied to white golds that are far too yellow, sometimes even to yellow gold.

Unfortunately, the law apparently does not regulate rhodium plating standards, nor the color of the underlying gold, nor does it require any labeling of rhodium plated jewelry.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my inquiry. I truly appreciate your courtesy in replying!

Ronald Anderson
- Hicksville NY USA

October 24, 2008

When a jeweler recoats a yellowish-tinted white gold ring in Rhodium, do all of the diamonds have to come out of the setting before it can be "re-rhodiumed?" What about if it is coated in Platinum before it is re-rhodiumed? I guess I may be paranoid, but I don't want my diamonds changed out. And does coating it in Platinum first really provide that much more wear, and therefore less Rhodium recoatings?

Emily Lusk
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana

October 27, 2008

Hi. The diamonds do not have to be removed. Sorry, I am not personally familiar with platinum plating under the rhodium.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey

January 6, 2009

I have a ring that was my grandmothers but it's yellow gold which I don't wear so I brought it to the jewelers to see if there could be something either overlayed or even to change out the three small stones into a different setting of white gold. They recommended rhodium plating and explained I'd need to redo this up to a couple times a year depending on how often I wore the ring. Was there a better alternative to the rhodium plating if it wears so easily?

Heidi Gorecki
- Troy, NY, USA

January 7, 2009

Hi, Heidi. Rhodium is the best plating, but plating is very thin and rings suffer a great deal of wear. If you wear it rarely and the plating is done well, it will last a fair while. If you wear it every day I bet even twice a year replating will not be enough.

Regards,

Ted Mooney
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey

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