Anyone know about white gold?

[User24689]

Hi all

DP and I currently choosing wedding rings. We are both after something simple and understated and neither of us are keen on yellow gold so we went to the jewellers yesterday to have a look and both liked simple white gold bands. The jeweller gave us a quote for a 3mm ring for DP and a 2mm for me in 9 carat gold for around $1400 AUD (716 GBP) for both.

My question is firstly - does that sound reasonable?? Tbh it seemed quite a lot to us but then we don't buy jewellery often so not sure! She offered us 18 carat instead but I'm not sure what the benefit of that would be if 9 carat is more hard wearing?

I've been doing a bit of googling since and have seen a couple of things saying that white gold needs to be regularly re-plated, anyone know if this is the case?

Secondly, does anyone recommend anything different for rings?

many thanks :)

[alotofchocolateonyourbiscuit]

My understanding is that white gold can become misshapen over time and as you say, requires replating. I was advised to go for platinum, which I've been very pleased with.

I notice you're in Austraia (AUD). Jewelry here seems more expensive than the UK. I ended up ordering my wedding ring from the USA. Even with the import tax it was much cheaper than buying it here in Aus.

[lastnightiwenttomanderley]

Firstly, check which 'grade' of white gold they are referring to. I have tiny (D) fingers so have a lot of my rings custom made. My jeweller uses high grade white gold which has not been and will never need Rhodium plating. I've had some rings for over 15 years and they still look as good as new. My engagement ring is from elsewhere, though, and you can see that starting to yellow, particularly next to the others.

RE: 9 or 18, 9 is not more durable by default! What it is is normally more brittle. I would always advise female friends to.go for 18 as there is a high chance your fingers may change and you need it reshaped (pregnancy can be a culprit here). 9 carat can also tarnish more over time as it has less of the inert gold.

White gold will look more 'grey' white compared to 'white' white platinum, but this is normally only.visible.side by.side. For this reason it's always better not to mix jewellery i.e all white gold or all platinum, plus if you wear two rings on the same hand the harder will wear the softer down over time.

[lastnightiwenttomanderley]

Oh, also, my 2 mm size D 18carat was about £280 three years ago. DH went for palladium as he preferred the colour. It's all done by weight so finger sizes will make a big difference to cost.

Good luck!

[moonfacebaby]

I had a white gold engagement ring which never needed replating in the 11 years that I had it.

[Mutley77]

I would go platinum if you can afford it..

[lurkingaround]

How can white gold not need re-plating? Isn't its colour just that: plating?

And mrscumberbatch if she's around is an amazing font of knowledge when it comes to jewellery.

I have an expensive 18ct white gold wedding ring and it driveth me nuts. I have to wash my hand a lot at work so I'm sure that doesn't help, but it is A Right Royal Pain In The Ass. I keep saying I'll replace it and somehow never get around to it.

OP my advice would be to have a look at platinum or palladium. Probably cheaper in the long run. Or even steel.

[Oldraver]

I have a 18ct white gold wedding ring and 9ct engagement ring that are 30/31 years old and bought from a high street jeweler. Neither have needed anything doing to them and are still very bright

[Oldraver]

I think the colour of white gold is more nickel or silver in the mix to alter the colour, not plating. I dont think you can get 22ct for this reason

[stareatthetvscreen]

i had a engagement ring years ago in white gold - it literally lasted weeks before going yellow.i returned it to the jewellers and they said i must be allergic to the plating so ended up having to get 9ct ring after all.

[lastnightiwenttomanderley]

lurking palladium and steel not recommended for women due to brittle nature - DH has palladium as he's unlikely to ever need it resizing.

Anyone wondering about the white gold grading and rhodium plating, I've found this which has some quite good explanations.

www.thelaboratory.co.uk/workingwithwhitegold.html

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

Go for platinum if you can afford it

[SuperGlue]

Both dh and I have white gold wedding rings and my engagement ring has both white gold and yellow gold. Our are premium grade white gold and have never had & never needed plating. They are almost 12 years old now and worn daily. They were made for us by a highly reputable jeweller and were very expensive at the time. If I recall correctly the white gold option was more expensive than the yellow gold. They are 18c. We had the option of platnium but neither of us liked it - it is very cold and surgical looking to me.

I have never ever regretted getting white gold rings, but I really love the fact that my engagement ring also has yellow gold so I can wear silver, gold or white gold on my other hand etc and it all looks good.

[iwantgin]

my rings are white gold and need replating annually.

The engagement ring seems to discolour - take on a yellowy tint - within a few months, the wedding ring (better quality?) can go longer, but I get them both done together.

If I had known about this then I would have gone for platinum in the first place.

[twofingerstoGideon]

How can white gold not need re-plating? Isn't its colour just that: plating?

Er... no.

Pure gold has 24 parts (carats) in 24 of gold, therefore 9 ct gold has 9 parts of gold and 15 parts alloying metals and 18 ct gold has 18 parts of gold and 6 parts of alloying metals. It is the alloying metals that give the gold its colour. Alloys can comprise silver or various base metals; that's where the colour variation comes in. It's not a surface decoration; it's actually in the metal itself.

Sometimes white gold is rhodium plated to give a brighter white finish and this may need re-plating. Personally I'd avoid this and stick to a non-plated finish.