yummymummy88 Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 My engagement ring is white gold and hasnt changed colour, i wear it when I wash up and bath my kids and its still the same colour as when i got it. There was something on watchdog a few weeks ago about a certain jewellers and white gold rings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 My rings are white gold, as far as I'm aware they are not "plated" with anything and so far haven't changed colour in three years. Where did you buy the rings from? I was under the impression that all gold jewellery is actually a mixture of metals of varying amounts, but plating is a different thing. white gold is yellow gold mixed with another "white" allow such as palladium, platinum, silver or any other metal alloy that will bleach the yellow out of the gold. it is then plated with rhodium to give it the brilliant silver colour comparable to actual silver. it is this plating that wears off over time. i did speak with another jeweller about the time frame as a friend of mine has a white gold wedding ring which took 10 years to go light yellow. the jeweller said that back then they used nickel (i think thats the alloy he said) to mix with yellow gold and this made the colour more white, so less noticeable when the plating wears off. i dont know how you could buy a white gold ring that was actually faint yellow. simply googling white gold shows you what colour the ring should be. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=white+gold&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1680&bih=892 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strix Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 white gold is brilliant white (silver) but goes light yellow as the rhodium plating wears off over time. my issue is the amount of time before it goes yellow. is 3-4 months really acceptable for a product that is supposed to be worn for a lifetime? Like I said, mine was never plated, but I'd take your's back if it's going to need replating 4 times a year - that's just rubbish If you wanted a white metal, perhaps you should exchange it for a genuine white metal instead of a plated one In my opinion these plated rings aren't suitable for anything other than dress rings for occasional wear - unless marriages are SUPPOSED to only last two years now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strix Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 i dont know how you could buy a white gold ring that was actually faint yellow. simply googling white gold shows you what colour the ring should be. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=white+gold&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1680&bih=892 Read Malky's post above My wedding ring is hand crafted in Sheffield from a Birmingham blank. Drilling the blank to insert the diamond would have made an unholy mess of the plating if it had ever had such a thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 Like I said, mine was never plated, but I'd take your's back if it's going to need replating 4 times a year - that's just rubbish If you wanted a white metal, perhaps you should exchange it for a genuine white metal instead of a plated one In my opinion these plated rings aren't suitable for anything other than dress rings for occasional wear - unless marriages are SUPPOSED to only last two years now i agree with you. plus i can see where an unplated white gold ring would be better as it would be a uniform colour. its a shame rhodium plated white gold changes colour only in the places most likely to wear and so it makes the ring look cheap, when its not thanks for the advise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 Read Malky's post above My wedding ring is hand crafted in Sheffield from a Birmingham blank. Drilling the blank to insert the diamond would have made an unholy mess of the plating if it had ever had such a thing i wasnt saying you were wrong, just that in reality white gold rings are rhodium plated in the vast majority of cases. my issue is how long should that last and is 3-4 months acceptable, if not what are my rights as i know the shop will try its best not to give me back the large slab of money i paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sierra Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Take it back to the jeweler and demand a refund. If the ring looks like this after 3-4 months, what will it look like after 3-4 years? If you have to (and can afford to) cut your losses, do some research and get another ring. Unless your girl works on an oil rig, her ring shouldn't be doing that. I have good quality costume jewelry that I've had for 25 years that I've never done a thing to and it looks like it did when I bought it. There are plenty of good online places selling rings and if you have a Costco in your area, they sell beautiful jewelry. Really, they do. My mother has a white gold ring she's been wearing for nearly 50 years, and to my knowledge, it has never had to be replated. I don't know what's wrong with the newer white gold. Yellow gold flatters my skin tone, and white gold looks looks like silver to me. If I want something that looks like silver, I'll wear silver. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad.Malky Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 alloy that will bleach the yellow out of the gold I am afraid its not as simple as that, there seems to be a bit lot of chemistry behind it. you seem to have missed the relevant part. The jewelry industry often hides these off-white colors by rhodium plating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_gold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sierra Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 my issue is how long should that last and is 3-4 months acceptable, if not what are my rights as i know the shop will try its best not to give me back the large slab of money i paid. I'm sure they won't. If you're really insistent, they'll probably try to get you to trade in the old ring for a more expensive ring. You may want to point out to them that the last one wasn't the quality you expected, and you're very hesitant to get anything else from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strix Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 the paragraph Malky has emboldened a couple of sentences in also uses the words 'commercial pieces', which is presumably why you're getting so many google results justifying this practice - most of them are info blurb attached to jewellers' websites I'd suggest a wedding or engagement ring should be good for 50 years wear with no more than a little cleaning to get any grime from decorative details or stones The one thing we were informed of when choosing white gold is that it's softer than yellow so will scratch and dent more easily. Daily wear will generally keep it polished (brushing against sheets in bed etc), but deliberate polishing isn't advised on a regular basis as it will wear the ring I'd take your's back and tell them you're planning to stay with your partner, so a 3 month lifespan just isn't acceptable. contact trading standards if neccessary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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