anyone a jewller? or know much about precious metals

Originally Posted by Littlepeahead

I subsequently found out I have an allergy to gold so I rarely wear it

That's interesting. I was very surprised when I read that because I understood gold to be pretty inert. Looking into it, it seems that most people have an allergy to nickel in the gold alloy, not the gold itself, tho the problem doesn't go away knowing that!
One suggestion was to use clear nail-varnish or some kind of laquer on the bit of the ring that touches your skin. Might be worth a try, so you could wear your grandmothers ring a bit more often?

Sorry for the derail!

[Littlepeahead]

Originally Posted by rpwoodman

That's interesting. I was very surprised when I read that because I understood gold to be pretty inert. Looking into it, it seems that most people have an allergy to nickel in the gold alloy, not the gold itself, tho the problem doesn't go away knowing that!
One suggestion was to use clear nail-varnish or some kind of laquer on the bit of the ring that touches your skin. Might be worth a try, so you could wear your grandmothers ring a bit more often?

Sorry for the derail!

I have tried various things, but find in the summer if I am taking Piriton/Clarityn that this helps.

The beautiful sapphire I bought in Sri Lanka, I had set in silver so I could be sure I could wear it.

I wonder if Cheryl Cole has been having similar wedding ring problems as her wedding ring seems to have vanished again!

[dizzyblonde]

My engagement ring is white gold, its been fine so far, I have had it polished since at the jewellers because it went funny, think I may have been cleaning in it, and it reacted with something. Its been fine since and I should expect so given the value of the ring itself in the first place!


pinched from somewhere, don't know if it helps at all......


White Gold and Rhodium Plating.




White Gold Grading
White gold is graded in colour from 1 to 4 depending on the quality of the colour and how often rhodium plating would need to be applied. 1 is the best possible colour, grade 4 is considered unacceptable as the colour is more of a yellow and relies heavily on costly rhodium plating in order to maintain the colour. Typically grade 3 and 4 qualities of white gold are generally used in many mass produced articles, as raw material costs are much lower, and the items are generally made to a price point rather than to a quality. Grade 3 and 4 colours do generate a lot of complaints from customers in the jewellery industry due to the problems associated with evident colour change once the rhodium wears off.

Category
Colour Value
Colour Description
Frequency of Rhodium Plating
Grade 1
Less than 19
Good White
Does not need to be rhodium plated for long periods
Grade 2
19 to 24.5
Reasonable White
Option to rhodium plate occasionally
Grade 3
24.5 to 32
Poor White
Frequent rhodium plating needed
Grade 4
Above 32
Not Acceptable
True colour will be exposed very quickly in wear.
For reference rhodium plating is considered brilliant white and has a colour value of 7

All of the 9ct white gold and 18ct white gold wedding rings that we sell on this website are made using only Grade 1 white gold as we believe in only selling quality wedding rings that will give you years of hassle free wear. All of the jewellery on our websites also conform to the European Nickel Directive.

What is White Gold?
Gold is naturally a yellow colour and is formulated into different colours, including white gold by the addition of adding other metals in order to reach the desired colour. Gold is expressed in carats with pure gold being 24 carats. 18 carat would be 18 parts pure cold and 6 parts another alloy. The manufacturer will then use these 6 parts in order to try to change the colour of the gold. They will typically use other white metals in order to try to change the colour of the gold from yellow to white, however 6 parts white to 18 parts yellow will not result in a pure white metal. In order to enhance the white gold a plating of Rhodium is applied. Rhodium is a brilliant white metal that is part of the platinum family and when applied to white gold it is this brilliant white colour that you see. Unfortunately when this plating wears off you will see the true colour of your ring below.

Different white metals can be added to the gold and can have different effects on the colour. Cheaper rings tend to use cheaper alloys of white metal that are not as successful at changing the colour and tend to produce a creamy white colour which is the colour that you will see when your rhodium plating wears off. Depending on the alloy used, a better colour of white can be achieved. The better and more costly the alloy the finer the colour will be and the longer the colour will last.

The Best White Gold
The best alloy to use in white gold is palladium which produces the best colour of white gold, and results in a white gold jewellery that will stay white for much longer. Palladium is not widely used in white gold as it is the most expensive alloy due to it being a member of the platinum family of metals. Palladium rich white gold is by far the best white gold at the moment and even though it costs a little more it is worth spending the extra. I would always advise that you purchase palladium rich white gold (Grade 1) in any jewellery that will receive hard wear such as rings.

Rhodium Plating
Rhodium plating is a finish that is applied to all white gold. It will look exactly the same on the cheapest and most expensive of rings, as you are seeing the reflective brilliance brilliant white colour of the rhodium plating and not the true colour of the metal below. In time the rhodium plating will wear off and the true colour of the metal will now be visible. With cheap white gold this will be seen as a yellowish creamy white colour which will be very noticeable. With palladium rich white gold you may not even be aware that the rhodium is starting to wear as the colour difference underneath will not be as evident.

Rhodium plating will need to be reapplied on to white gold if you wish to maintain the colour, how frequent depends on the quality of the white gold and how quickly you experience a loss of colour. Grade 1 white gold will need less rhodium plating and sometimes does not need to be reapplied at all. Grade 3 or 4 white gold will need frequent rhodium plating as the true colour will show through quite quickly in normal wear.

A typical price for rhodium plating would be around £15.00 to £20.00 which involves polishing off any remaining rhodium and polishing out all of the scratches and then reapplying a new coat of rhodium plating. One downside of rhodium plating too often is that it does prematurely wear your ring away. Every time your ring is polished a tiny layer of gold is removed in order to remove all the scratches. Although the amount of metal removed is negligible if you are doing this every 3 -6 months then this can add up over time and cause unnecessary wear to your ring.

Buying Advice
Palladium rich white gold is by far the best colour of white gold available at this time. It does however carry a premium and will be more expensive than cheaper alloyed white gold and is also more expensive than yellow gold which doesn’t have such an expensive alloy added. The price difference between yellow gold and palladium rich white gold is evident on our website.

The increased cost of palladium rich white gold is offset by less frequent rhodium plating and thus less un-necessary polishing, but more importantly customer satisfaction is greatly increased as you will not suffer the same level of discolouration experienced with cheaper alloys.

I would always advise with items of white gold jewellery that are in constant use that you ask the sales person to confirm that the article is either "palladium rich" or is made from "Grade 1 Alloys" If they are unable to confirm this then I would assume that they are below grade 1.

thanks for all the help, have sent a few emails off and will see what responces i get

I've had a white gold engagement ring and it looks alright to me and it nevers come off ever ( once when laerning fire performance) It would need plated if I was going to buy the wedding ring but seeing as its not next to anything it s not compared to anything.
I want a rose gold wedding ring and theis will be designed to incorparate the diamond from my engagement ring. Don't think the two look good together but the rose gold is heirloom from the welsh mines and it need to be made into something

can't rate these guys high enough. Their design service is fanatstic - just a sahame i've not had the money to have it made yet

http://www.theringmaker.co.uk/index.html

[L3nny]

Get a couple of these. Job done.

Originally Posted by Richie

you could always go for something like these...

sorry for the derail.
Good luck in your quest. they can also make wedding band to your requirements.

I'm friends with a guy called David Howard who makes similar rings to these in a variety of tread patterns.

Originally Posted by Littlepeahead

I wonder if Cheryl Cole has been having similar wedding ring problems as her wedding ring seems to have vanished again!

Poor family, they seem to be plagued with problems - her husband's memory is so bad that he seems to regularly forget what woman's bed he's meant to be in