Engagement Ring Metal Advice

K

kelleyanne

Member
Jul 22, 2009
5
0
#1
Helloooo ladies...
I think my man might start shopping for engagement rings soon and I want to start dropping hints about what I want! I have an idea what style (round solitaire) and setting (prong) I'd like, and I know I want a white metal, but I'm not sure which one! What would you recommend? I've heard that platinum is the best but I'm wondering why...?
 
#2
Personally I prefer Platinum. My reasoning is:
1) I am allergic to gold. Pretty simple decision ;)
2) When you polish it, you lose no metal. When you polish gold, you lose metal.
3) Platinum never needs plating. White gold requires rhodium plating to be white, without it it's a really pale yellow. Some women love the non-plated white gold shade though.
4) I love the heft, the weight. I like that it's a rich heavy metal.
5) It's insanely durable. When it scratches, it merely "displaces" (dents, if you will). When polished it's smoothed right back out. It DOES scratch easier, but a polish can make it good as new.
 
#3
I went with yellow gold and have never regretted it - as long as the stone is a D or E
My mom's original set is platinum and she is having a disasterous time finding someone that will resize it for a reasonable cost!
Her new set is white gold and it is stunning

So, sorry but I guess that means that basically I am no help
 
#4
I agree with ame in everything she said...my e ring is palladium and my wedding band is platinum and I am looking forward to change the palladium ring to a platinum one...for the exact same reasons ame mentioned....platinum will last me a life time!
 
#5
my friend who's a jeweler said it's better in WG because in case you gain weight etc, you can always resize UP easier (my setting had a lot of pave stones). WIth platinum it's problematic, she didn't say it was impossible, but just a damn pain. Probably costs more too....sizing up on WG costs very little.

And honestly, it's all up to how you care for it. I have a WG e-ring and a Plat wedding ring and theyre fine. My lifestyle doesn't put me in situations to HEAVILY bang my hands around so WG is just fiiiiiiiiiiiiine for me. Replating does not cost a lot too, probably $20 and you'll do it every 2 years or so if you're REALLY REALLLY color sensitive.
 
#6
I prefer white gold.
Mine almost never needs to be dipped, had my original e-ring/wedding ring for 12 yrs and it's still completely white.
I also like that it pretty much is always shiny. Platinum dulls over time, which I don't prefer personally.
 
#9
missD said:
my friend who's a jeweler said it's better in WG because in case you gain weight etc, you can always resize UP easier (my setting had a lot of pave stones). WIth platinum it's problematic, she didn't say it was impossible, but just a damn pain. Probably costs more too....sizing up on WG costs very little.
Click to expand...

I paid about $45 to resize my e-ring and get platinum sizing beads put in. I went up a quarter size I think to get the beads in there without major protrusion getting it on. Because platinum can just be stretched to make the ring bigger, it often DOES take more time to do, which is why it costs more than gold. It doesn't usually require cutting and soldering like gold would.

Resizing something with channel set stones, pave, or otherwise encrusted with stones is going to be difficult no matter what the metal.

It all depends on the jeweler and how good their benchman is. Make absolutely sure the bench is good with platinum, the only time it would be "problematic" is if the bench guy has no idea what the hell he is doing. None of my rings that have ever been sized look like they've been touched, which is a testament to my bench jeweler.
 
#10
I have platinum and scratches like crazy, but I don't do well with white gold. Something about my ph balance strips the rhodium plating very quickly so the white gold pieces I own need to be re-dipped very frequently. Same with my husband, who does have a white gold ring. It needs to be dipped about every two years.
 
#11
Swanky Mama Of Three said:
I prefer white gold.
Mine almost never needs to be dipped, had my original e-ring/wedding ring for 12 yrs and it's still completely white.
I also like that it pretty much is always shiny. Platinum dulls over time, which I don't prefer personally.
Click to expand...

ITA! Actually I have ring that is dated back to 1921 set in white gold and it has never been redipped and is completely white. Platinum is heavier and dulls I just don't like it.
 
#12
I have platinum rings and love them. I have had them for 2 years. They do get a light patina/dullness but I have had them polished twice by my jeweler and they have come back looking as shiny as if they were brand new. I do have to warn you though that platinum does dent pretty easily. On my honeymoon I ran my e ring into a door frame and put a huge dent into one of the channels and was devastated......I don't know how he did it buy my jeweler was also able to fix that so that I had no clue it had ever happened and I wasn't charged a cent (which may be due to the fact that I am a very loyal customer :smile:. So I guess it really just comes down to what's more important to you.
 
#13
Hi, how exciting. My platinum 1 carat solitaire ring needed sizing x5 sizes up cos we brought it second hand & it was a one off ring that I fell in love with .
It had to go from a J-P & only cost £70 I thought it would have cost hundreds - this was only in feb this year.
The jewellers said its because the price of gold has gone up but not platinum
 
#14
I wanted to add that the decision on which metal to pick should also include thought on what type of ring you're going to get.

For setting with lots of metal that will be exposed to scratching or denting you should get white gold. Platinum works well with pave, channel etc. because you can't see as much metal.
 
#15
ahertz said:
I wanted to add that the decision on which metal to pick should also include thought on what type of ring you're going to get.

For setting with lots of metal that will be exposed to scratching or denting you should get white gold. Platinum works well with pave, channel etc. because you can't see as much metal.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this
 
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