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-----How difficult is it to plate a piece of jewelry with rhodium
Quickstart: Rhodium plating is not terribly difficult but rhodium is the most expensive metal. A possible alternative is the use of Argentium® silver which is designed to minimize tarnishing.
Q. I am a jewelry designer and I am beginning to sell my designs in upscale Boutiques. Currently, I have a great deal of Sterling Silver stock. Can you tell me how difficult it is to Rhodium plate my inventory and approximately how much I should expect to pay for Rhodium.
Shirley Wolfdesigner - Chicago, Illinois
August 25, 2008
A. Shirley,
The sterling silver stock that you have would have to be polished, cleaned, then plated in Rhodium. Not too difficult to do for someone with experience. In the past 30 days Rhodium has been low as $3985.00 per troy oz, and as high as $8750.00 per troy oz. Todays close (Hong Kong time) was $6200.00, according to Johnson Matthey metals pricing. That comes to a base price of about $200.00 per gram, plan on about
$250.00 per gram after manufacturing charges (to convert it into Rhodium sulphate) which is the source of metal in the plating solution.
You will need at least 8 grams of Rhodium metal per gallon of plating solution. One gallon of solution will cost you around $2000.00, plus the cost of sulfuric acid and the equipment! I would send the work out for plating. The plater has already made the initial investment for Rh plating and has the know-how. Good Luck!
process engineer - Malone, New York
A. Try Argentium® sterling silver-silver alloy very resistant to tarnishing .Hope it helps and good luck!
Goran Budija- Cerovski vrh Croatia
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