Let's talk about Gold!
- Thread starter Japster
- Start date
envyme said:
Good question! I learned something new today.
Found this:
Yes, it is perfectly legal, and is actually jewelry industry standard, to have white gold jewelry plated with Rhodium. For those of you who don't know, Rhodium is a variety of platinum, and provides a very white, hard, durable finish to jewelry.
As far as white gold goes, some people do seem to have a reaction with the metal and bring a yellowish tinge to the surface of the ring. remember that it is made with mostly gold which is a very yellow material. it is the other metals that it is mixed with that make it white.
Rhodium plating is a good alternative for keeping the ring white and making it scratch resistant. For most people though, white gold does not turn yellow on their skin, so it is not an issue.
Another alternative is to have your rings made in platinum. it is a much cooler metal, will not tarnish, and is very strong as far as holding stones in place, and holding its shape. However, it is more expensive than gold, it is quite a bit heavier, and in my opinion it tends to scratch and ding more easily that white gold does.
Just as with everything, there is good quality and bad quality. If plating is done right, you won't have any problems with it and short of having it replated every few years, it should be trouble-free.
Bjara said:Good question! I learned something new today.
Found this:
Yes, it is perfectly legal, and is actually jewelry industry standard, to have white gold jewelry plated with Rhodium. For those of you who don't know, Rhodium is a variety of platinum, and provides a very white, hard, durable finish to jewelry.
As far as white gold goes, some people do seem to have a reaction with the metal and bring a yellowish tinge to the surface of the ring. remember that it is made with mostly gold which is a very yellow material. it is the other metals that it is mixed with that make it white.
Rhodium plating is a good alternative for keeping the ring white and making it scratch resistant. For most people though, white gold does not turn yellow on their skin, so it is not an issue.
Another alternative is to have your rings made in platinum. it is a much cooler metal, will not tarnish, and is very strong as far as holding stones in place, and holding its shape. However, it is more expensive than gold, it is quite a bit heavier, and in my opinion it tends to scratch and ding more easily that white gold does.
Just as with everything, there is good quality and bad quality. If plating is done right, you won't have any problems with it and short of having it replated every few years, it should be trouble-free.
Aaah, I see! Thanks so much
Bjara said:14k white gold is harder than 18k white gold. Meaning, the 14k will not scratch as easily.
My wedding set if 14k white....I had it replaced from yellow gold a few years back. My jeweler told me that since I had kids, he would highly recommend 14k over 18k.
I go in once a year to have the prongs checked, ring cleaned and shined. They automatically put a new coat of the plating on it...it takes minutes and makes the ring look brand new.If they buff and shine without putting the plating on it, it can take on a yellowish cast.
Thank you Bjara!
It makes sense re: the 14K advice.
Very good description of Rhodium plating!
Rhodium just generally gives a very pleasant white appearance, so even many Platinum pieces are even rhodium plated. Platinum costs about 2.5x as much as gold per gram. Since all metal jewelry is priced per gram, the same item cast in platinum will cost roughly 5 times what it would in white gold
Rhodium just generally gives a very pleasant white appearance, so even many Platinum pieces are even rhodium plated. Platinum costs about 2.5x as much as gold per gram. Since all metal jewelry is priced per gram, the same item cast in platinum will cost roughly 5 times what it would in white gold
I want to also add, something to think about when considering White Gold, To have your ring rhodium plated it can cost $30-40 each time (and quite a bit more if it's two-toned since it would have to be done by hand). This can be expense if you have several rings and need to have it done 1-2 times a year.
Ok... slightly off the white gold topic, I was hoping that you can help me too.
My question is about appraisals of gold jewellry. I bought a whole bunch on some business trips to Dubai. I haven't bothered appraising them yet, because some of the places out here are charging about $75 to $100/piece. Asides from doing the dollar/gram averaging, what are some of the ways to determine the worth of what you got? They are all supposedly 22k. Is there a way to tell for sure for us novices? I am pretty sure they are reputable jewellers.
My question is about appraisals of gold jewellry. I bought a whole bunch on some business trips to Dubai. I haven't bothered appraising them yet, because some of the places out here are charging about $75 to $100/piece. Asides from doing the dollar/gram averaging, what are some of the ways to determine the worth of what you got? They are all supposedly 22k. Is there a way to tell for sure for us novices? I am pretty sure they are reputable jewellers.
you know what's really weird - I cannot wear gold at ALL!! About 2 hours after wearing any yellow gold items, I get this really horrible wretched smell surrounding like 4 inches all over wherever I am wearing the gold.
I asked my doc a while back what that could be and he said that I probably have a chemical reaction to something in the yellow gold. but I can wear white gold without a problem. Isn't that odd? and so sad too because I have some lovely family pieces from mexico that I cannot wear :cry:
I asked my doc a while back what that could be and he said that I probably have a chemical reaction to something in the yellow gold. but I can wear white gold without a problem. Isn't that odd? and so sad too because I have some lovely family pieces from mexico that I cannot wear :cry:
BalenciagaLove said:
I'm going to give a lengthy answer for the sake of education of others that may read that, if that is okay with you. For basic reference I'll put the definitions in parenthesis just incase I start throwing around words that are not know.
I'll break worth into three different categories...
Pawn/Scrap Gold- what you'd get from a pawn dealer
A forumula that many jewelers go by is:
Spot price (spot or melt price is the current market price that day, ex: $644 per oz) X Percentage of Gold.
18k gold contains 75% gold so it would be Spot X .75 divided by gram weight.
**To find the price of gold that day you can check sites like KITCO
Retail/StreetDealer
You could generally expect a formula like this:
SPOT PRICE divided by purity, multiplied by weight, multiplied by 25%-60% mark-up.
custom made gold and designer pieces will command a higher price and that is more relative to whatever the consumer will pay vs. an actual formula like the one above.