platinum or white gold?

positivenote · 08-01-2009 01:31AM #1

Okay guys/girls,
im on my way into town tomorrow in the hope of picking up a platinum 4mm wedding band for myself. I say a similiar ring for 1400euro in fields the weekend, but this i will be getting for under 800. Its perfectly legit so dont worry... only problem is im starting to think does it make any difference wether the ring is platinum or white gold as i can get the same ring in white gold for about 400? its just a standard wedding band and it will always be the only piece of jewllery that i will wear, apart from a decent rolex whenever i win the lotto...
so im basically just looking for opinions considerations etc... before i go ahead and buy it/leave it...
i'll check back in the morning before i head into town
Thanks in advance

fleet · 08-01-2009 01:40AM

Go platinum or yellow gold.

White gold is regular yellow gold plated in a layer of Rhodium, and that layer eventually wears. Sometimes white gold is a solid alloy of yellow gold (9ct or 18) + either nickel or palladium. Nickel can cause allergies and cheapens the ring in my eyes, palladium alloy is nice but too soft for rings.

aishling99 · 08-01-2009 09:58AM

If you going to be wearing an engagement ring with this, if so you need to match with that.

Otherwise if your buying white gold just make sure its good quality then you shouldn't any any problems with it turning yellow.

positivenote · 08-01-2009 10:46AM

no engagement ring with it as im the groom

and it'll be the only ring i'll ever wear as im not 'into' jewelery that much at all and have never really worn any

aishling99 · 08-01-2009 10:56AM

sorry for assuming

my H2B just got his ring, he got a lovely brushed white gold one, nice if u don't like anything too shiny.....half the price of my platnium one.......

seamus · 08-01-2009 10:58AM

If you're the male, then gold is too soft IMO. Platinum or Titanium with a matt/sandblasted finish will last much longer without getting any major scratches or nicks.

digitalage · 08-01-2009 11:10AM

Most rings nowadays are rhodium plated be it white gold or platinium, depends on your line of work, if ur sitting in an office 9-5 then white gold will be fine, get it rodium plated ever couple of years. If your work involves manual labour ie using ur hands, get the platinium as its harder metal and won't scratch as much as white gold.

positivenote · 08-01-2009 11:14AM

thanks for the advice guys. I reckon i will go white gold as im primarily a photograher who spends alot (to much) time sitting using a computer. This will save me a fair few bob tbh. Thanks again

keyes · 08-01-2009 05:30PM

fleet wrote: »

White gold is regular yellow gold plated in a layer of Rhodium, and that layer eventually wears.

if you don't know, try not to give wrong or misleading information.

either white gold or platinum is fine for your needs, OP.

fleet · 08-01-2009 06:53PM

keyes wrote: »

if you don't know, try not to give wrong or misleading information..

Dude, show me white gold jewelery that hasn't been plated with some whiter metal. It doesn't wear as well as platinum.

smelltheglove · 08-01-2009 08:26PM

Under the advice of the jewler who was an old friend I went for white gold. The advice was the fact that white gold needs to be dipped every year or two so the ring willconstantly be freshened. Platnium, so I was told, after a while gets dirty looking, ok it can be shined but will never get the new clean look again.

I'm delighted now, just before the wedding I got my engagement ring dipped, it takes about 3 days and it looked brand new.

keyes · 09-01-2009 11:33AM

you said:

fleet wrote: »

Go platinum or yellow gold.

White gold is regular yellow gold plated in a layer of Rhodium

if you don't know what white gold is, say nothing, dude.

biko · 09-01-2009 11:41AM

keyes wrote: »

if you don't know what white gold is, say nothing, dude.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_gold#White_gold
http://www.finishing.com/faqs/whitegold.html

Years ago, white gold rings were not rhodium plated; today they usually are.

keyes · 09-01-2009 12:41PM

biko wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_gold#White_gold
http://www.finishing.com/faqs/whitegold.html

yep, those links agree with what i said.

fleet originaly said

"White gold is regular yellow gold plated in a layer of Rhodium".

this is wrong.

that white is also rhodium plated is a different point. white gold is NOT just yellow gold coated in rhodium.

GospelGroupie · 31-01-2009 10:19AM

OK, so you've gone for white-gold. Sure, that's fine. I hope it works for you. However, there are alternatives. Platinum is 60-70% heavier than white gold (and possibly the same percentage more expensive as well), but it doesn't tarnish, it doesn't cause reactions for those with nickel-allergies (whereas white-gold can), it might scratch more than white-gold but it doesn't wear away as much as white-gold. It might need a polish from time to time, but a rub is easier to do than to have it replated.

Anyway, there's another metal available now for wedding-bands with almost all the same properties of platinum, with the exception of mass (weight) and cost. Palladium is very cheap, although it is more rare than gold. I assume that is due to lack of demand (which is sure to change). It comes from the same family of metals as platinum. A link to a wikipedia article about it is <here>.

My fianceé and I bought our wedding-bands in Fields a few weeks ago, two plain domed matching rings. Hers was platinum, mine was palladium. What cost me €400 in palladium would have cost me €1,200 in platinum. A no-brainer really.

Yoda08 · 05-02-2009 06:46PM

Sorry to hijack this thread, but we are looking at engagement rings at the minute, and of course the white gold/platinum question arises.

Many jewellers in Ireland veer away from white gold and only display platinum, explaining that the purer metal only requires a polish to bring up it's finer glory, whereas the white gold needs dipping that gets expensive over time. This I can understand, as I have researched a little bit online.

However, we are also looking at Antwerp, and have been requestion quotes, and one particular jeweller has been extremely vehement against platinum, being quite patronising about my question about dipping vs polishing (quoting "ah the old myth still exists. you may not know this but ALL platinum rings are rhodium plated") and attached a picture of a platinum ring gone off colour (see attached) that required re-dipping.

I was very disappointed, but rang up Dublin jewellers to confirm this, only to be told, NO, not all platinum rings are plated, but can be if you specifically request it.

Now I'm confused!!!

cch · 06-02-2009 01:13PM

Had similar experience, have left platinum engagement ring into same jewellers three times now to be "cleaned", and only copped that last time that they dipped it in rhodium!

Didn't ask for or expect that, looked nice but guess that explains the price and delay

Not sure what to think now, got platinum to specifically avoid the need for replating...

And keyes, can you actually explain what white gold is? Instead of just telling others they're wrong...

RxQueen · 06-02-2009 01:18PM

i do great work with tinfoil... if you want to look at my collection pm , i do very good rates also! all the jewellers are falling at my feet to have my collection in there shop:D

and i do great hats for the mother of the bride also !:D

Tiger03 · 06-02-2009 04:20PM

I second palladium.

Yoda08 · 06-02-2009 11:26PM

Tiger03 wrote: »

I second palladium.

Is palladium a common setting for engagement rings?

I also noted that the actual prong settings for the diamond on most platinum rings is actually white gold and not platinum, as apparently it has a stronger grip?!??

keyes · 07-02-2009 10:38AM

cch wrote: »

And keyes, can you actually explain what white gold is?

biko's links in post 13 above will tell you all you need to know.

cch · 09-02-2009 02:45PM

keyes wrote: »

biko's links in post 13 above will tell you all you need to know.

To which you replied...

keyes wrote:

yep, those links agree with what i said.

But I can't see where you said anything!

keyes · 09-02-2009 02:57PM

cch wrote: »

But I can't see where you said anything!

you took half a quote from my message where i wrote

"yep, those links agree with what i said."

if you read to the end of that post, you'll see i made no comments about the white gold other than that the myth that it is simply coated yellow gold is wrong.

you then posted asking if i could explain exactly what white gold is. i recommended that if you want to find out more about white gold, perhaps you should read those links.

hope this clears things up.

aoibhebree · 09-02-2009 09:09PM

So just how often does white gold need to be cleaned/replated? And how do you know when it's time to get it done?

SteM · 09-02-2009 09:43PM

My mrs gets hers redipped about twice a year in a place on Abbey Street. You'll know when it needs to be done as it looses a lot of it's lustre.

platinum or white gold?

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