White gold jewelry
- Thread starter SDC2003
- Start date
Platinum over WG.
My mother has a ring, a double bamboo motif, one in yellow and the other one used to be white. It has turn into a very ugly brownish shade of yellow gold. Since I am supposed to get it soon, I'll have to deal with it I guess. Ugh.
There is something called 19 karat white gold that does not change color and is not rodium plated.
What is it made of? Is it possible to get the composition of it?
Total karatage is 24k. If this "white gold" is really 19k, it means that 19/24 = 79.17% of it is gold. Gold is yellow, and intensely so.
I would really like to know what metal exists out there, that when added at 20.83% of the mix, can turn the alloy white.
Even 10k gold, which is only 41.67% gold is still very yellow.
I am very intrigued.
The jewellery store where I bought my ring from describes their 19k white gold as "including a small percentage of nickel, making it strong for everyday wear. They don't use rhodium plating, which wears down over time. Instead, they allow the colour and beauty of the white gold to carry each piece that they create". I am so glad that I don't have to worry about replating this ring because replating is not cheap. My 19k white gold ring looks good, like a nice looking platinum ring. Beware that some platinum rings can look dull and grey. I also own an 18k white gold Cartier Juste Un Clou ring and it's not been rhodium plated. The color of that ring isn't so nice. It looks quite dull and grey. I hope this helps!
How much karate of nickel? The full 5k remaining?
Gold can never be white, and is always and everywhere yellow.
I would suggest this ring has been plated, maybe not with rhodium, maybe with platinum or something else.
Edit:
I have done some research as I am very intrigued. Found discussions on jewelers' message boards.
Seems to be some Eastern Canada "proprietary" 19k formula that is either full of nickel or palladium depending on the source. But it darkens over time and becomes grey, indeed. I much prefer when jewellers avoid calling that "white" gold and just come clean calling it grey as that's what it is.
I would never wear anything with that much nickel as it is the source of most jewelry related allergies but I guess it is an option for those who, for some reason, won't but platinum jewelry.
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I love all white metals and have a mix of platinum, white gold and silver I wear daily. I really love seeing others white gold stacks, so thank you for starting this thread and hoping others will add some eye candy!
Platinum or silver definitely holds up better for rings in my experience, but my bracelets are a mixture of white gold rhodium plated (for the Tiffany and Dinh Van) and white gold non rhodium for the Cartier. I wear them 24/7 and no issues so far. I know the rhodium plated pieces may well require re plating at some point, but I don't think it wears off to the same extent it does on the underside of a ring, so should hopefully be a while yet.
Platinum or silver definitely holds up better for rings in my experience, but my bracelets are a mixture of white gold rhodium plated (for the Tiffany and Dinh Van) and white gold non rhodium for the Cartier. I wear them 24/7 and no issues so far. I know the rhodium plated pieces may well require re plating at some point, but I don't think it wears off to the same extent it does on the underside of a ring, so should hopefully be a while yet.
I'm not sure how much nickel is in this mix. My ring is one year old and it looks exactly the same as the day I bought it. However, it is not one that is worn daily. Hopefully it will look good for a long time.
