White gold or platinum?
Discussion
Trying to buy an engagement ring, don't know much about jewellery, especially about gold, white gold etc.
We've found a ring and the jewellers have said they will get a new band made in white gold, but we can have platinum. Platinum will go dull over time and require polishing.
We had previously been told that with white gold it would need re-plating every year or so, as most of the time it's yellow gold that has been rodium plated - however, this jewellers have said that they make white gold bands, i.e. put more metals in with the yellow gold to give it a white appearance permantly.
Which would you go for? My GF is not keen to have it re-plated each year, so wants platinum, but is this jeweller being true about their white gold process? it seems all of the others told us there is no real white gold and all needs re-plating.
thanks in advance.
We've found a ring and the jewellers have said they will get a new band made in white gold, but we can have platinum. Platinum will go dull over time and require polishing.
We had previously been told that with white gold it would need re-plating every year or so, as most of the time it's yellow gold that has been rodium plated - however, this jewellers have said that they make white gold bands, i.e. put more metals in with the yellow gold to give it a white appearance permantly.
Which would you go for? My GF is not keen to have it re-plated each year, so wants platinum, but is this jeweller being true about their white gold process? it seems all of the others told us there is no real white gold and all needs re-plating.
thanks in advance.
Go for Platinum.
White gold will dull, and you will have to buy an equal-grade wedding ring to match if she is planning on wearing both, because two non-matched white gold bands worn next to each other will also show up very quickly as the plating will wear down thanks to "science stuff I can't fully remember"
White gold will dull, and you will have to buy an equal-grade wedding ring to match if she is planning on wearing both, because two non-matched white gold bands worn next to each other will also show up very quickly as the plating will wear down thanks to "science stuff I can't fully remember"
I've got a platinum wedding ring, as has the wife with a matching engagement ring. They do lose their shine a bit over time but I've never had my ring polished, I'm not into that stuff 
Depends how much you like bling I guess.
We were advised to go with platinum due to all the issues with white gold mentioned so far.
Depends how much you like bling I guess.We were advised to go with platinum due to all the issues with white gold mentioned so far.
Well corrected 
I went for palladium on the one I bought.
Lighter weight and cheaper. Looks the same, if not a little warmer than platinum (which I preferred). Though it is not such a common metal for jewellers apparently so you might find some won't deal with it. None of these are extremely hard metals so all will dull and scratch over time. But its no hardship to get the polished and cleaned up from time to time.
Lighter weight and cheaper. Looks the same, if not a little warmer than platinum (which I preferred). Though it is not such a common metal for jewellers apparently so you might find some won't deal with it. None of these are extremely hard metals so all will dull and scratch over time. But its no hardship to get the polished and cleaned up from time to time.
Thanks for the replies so far.
Palladium hasn’t been offered to me.
I should have said that the decision isn’t based on price, the ring had a white gold band on in the shop but they will either attach a new one of the correct size or there’s the option of a attaching a platinum one for no extra cost.
I called the shop back earlier to clarify the proper white gold / plated white gold confusion and they said that because they manufacture their own jewellery in-house, they put more zinc in to make it white rather than copper to make it more yellow. They then rhodium plate it to give it an extra shine, but when it eventually wear’s away it doesn’t look as bad as yellow gold that has been rhodium plated.
Do people go for platinum normally because of the hassle of re-plating or because it’s the most expensive?
I realise a wedding band would also need to match, but this same place also manufactures ‘proper’ white gold bands.
The store is Cheshire’s in Chester, which also has a store in the Jewellry Quarter in Birmingham if anyone else knows it.
Palladium hasn’t been offered to me.
I should have said that the decision isn’t based on price, the ring had a white gold band on in the shop but they will either attach a new one of the correct size or there’s the option of a attaching a platinum one for no extra cost.
I called the shop back earlier to clarify the proper white gold / plated white gold confusion and they said that because they manufacture their own jewellery in-house, they put more zinc in to make it white rather than copper to make it more yellow. They then rhodium plate it to give it an extra shine, but when it eventually wear’s away it doesn’t look as bad as yellow gold that has been rhodium plated.
Do people go for platinum normally because of the hassle of re-plating or because it’s the most expensive?
I realise a wedding band would also need to match, but this same place also manufactures ‘proper’ white gold bands.
The store is Cheshire’s in Chester, which also has a store in the Jewellry Quarter in Birmingham if anyone else knows it.
t. Needs regular replating and will cost more long term.interesting mixed experiences.
my wifes two rings are both WG and both need replating every few years to keep them looking smart. Based on her job and the extremely limited amount of domestic activity I can only presume its not the duty cycle that is at fault!
where are people getting the plating done?
my wifes two rings are both WG and both need replating every few years to keep them looking smart. Based on her job and the extremely limited amount of domestic activity I can only presume its not the duty cycle that is at fault!
where are people getting the plating done?
My wife’s engagement ring is 18 carat white gold, her eternity ring 18 carat yellow gold, and her wedding band a plaited mixture of 18 carat white and yellow gold.
My wedding band is a narrower than usually seen in the U.K., continental style 18 carat yellow gold one.
Although we only married in 1994, we’ve worn the rings since the early eighties, and none of them have been polished or plated to my recall, although my wife soaks her rings in neat gin every 8-10 months, she wanted to use my vodka once, but I nixed that.
My wedding band is a narrower than usually seen in the U.K., continental style 18 carat yellow gold one.
Although we only married in 1994, we’ve worn the rings since the early eighties, and none of them have been polished or plated to my recall, although my wife soaks her rings in neat gin every 8-10 months, she wanted to use my vodka once, but I nixed that.
alistair1234 said:
Thanks for the replies so far.
Palladium hasn’t been offered to me.
I should have said that the decision isn’t based on price, the ring had a white gold band on in the shop but they will either attach a new one of the correct size or there’s the option of a attaching a platinum one for no extra cost.
I called the shop back earlier to clarify the proper white gold / plated white gold confusion and they said that because they manufacture their own jewellery in-house, they put more zinc in to make it white rather than copper to make it more yellow. They then rhodium plate it to give it an extra shine, but when it eventually wear’s away it doesn’t look as bad as yellow gold that has been rhodium plated.
Do people go for platinum normally because of the hassle of re-plating or because it’s the most expensive?
I realise a wedding band would also need to match, but this same place also manufactures ‘proper’ white gold bands.
The store is Cheshire’s in Chester, which also has a store in the Jewellry Quarter in Birmingham if anyone else knows it.
My platinum wedding ring is 18y old and was bought because I thought gold a bit 'fancy' and wanted something more stealthyPalladium hasn’t been offered to me.
I should have said that the decision isn’t based on price, the ring had a white gold band on in the shop but they will either attach a new one of the correct size or there’s the option of a attaching a platinum one for no extra cost.
I called the shop back earlier to clarify the proper white gold / plated white gold confusion and they said that because they manufacture their own jewellery in-house, they put more zinc in to make it white rather than copper to make it more yellow. They then rhodium plate it to give it an extra shine, but when it eventually wear’s away it doesn’t look as bad as yellow gold that has been rhodium plated.
Do people go for platinum normally because of the hassle of re-plating or because it’s the most expensive?
I realise a wedding band would also need to match, but this same place also manufactures ‘proper’ white gold bands.
The store is Cheshire’s in Chester, which also has a store in the Jewellry Quarter in Birmingham if anyone else knows it.
At the time there was no other option - white gold/palladium and others mentioned here just werent offered
Its rarely removed, never cleaned or polished and has a hard life
Salt water, oil, grease, filth, hand scrubs and the works are all regularly thrown at it and it looks OK on the whole
Not sure if relevant but it came from Hatton Garden not a high street jeweller although was actually cost neutral at the time
And congratulations!!
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