Wedding rings - advice on metal type
Im choosing a wedding ring and I don't know whether to get platinum or white gold? What is your wedding ring and how is it holding up?
juicycouture My engagement ring was platinum, but my wedding ring was white gold. I had my wedding ring made by a craftsman (custom design) and it was easier for him to work in gold than platinum.
Both rings held up quite fine.
Coralie Go with platinum, it does not change color. White gold will eventually change back to its natural color. Platinum is always the best route...
Tony_ Mine is white gold and it has held up just fine over the years and has not changed color we got my wedding band at Kay jewlers and they give u a warrenty if it does change color they do whatever it is they do to fix it, or replace it.
proudmom12 My engagement ring is platinum and my wedding band is white gold. The jeweler who made my band said white gold was better for the delicate setting. It's a diamond eternity band with shared "fishtail" prongs. It has held up perfectly fine, no color change at all and I never take it off. My ring isn't quite two years old yet, just for perspective.
Tracy gosh i have had a while gold ( 18 karat) diamond and sapphire ring my grandfather gave me over 30 years ago and its never turned a different color???? never heard of a white gold turning........
dismom dismom,
They don't actually 'turn' a different color. White gold is yellow gold DIPPED, for the white gold color, and it can wear off over time...
Lori...since '73 I have many white gold pieces (including wedding and engagement rings) never had a color problem. My mother has worn rings for 32 years with no problems either.
Mommyof3 Too funny--I have an engagement ring in platinum with just a carat prong set solitaire diamond and my wedding ring is white gold with channel set diamonds and both are holding up just fine. Had them both for about 8 years or so. The engagement ring (Funny engagement story for another time lol) was purchased at Sam's Club for a few thousand and the wedding ring was from Kay in the Rockaway Mall for under $1000. I don't wear them all that often. I have small children and one time I accidentally scratched my son with my engagement ring so it spends a good amount of time in my jewelry box. Keep that in mind when purchasing them. They're nice to wear to work and out before the kids but after they rarely see the light of day!
LM I have MIL's wedding set and it is platinum and is 57 yrs old and still looks brand new. I have gold wedding band and the Florentine is just starting to wear down. My engagement ring is gold and just had the diamond reinforced with platinum prongs as they were wearing down. Mine are 30 yrs old.
Christine My engagement and wedding rings are white gold, but I don't wear them every day. My husband's wedding band is tungsten carbide steel and virtually indestructible. I also have a plain tungsten band that I use for every day wear. White gold when dipped with rhodium will last a long time. If the ring starts to yellow, just take it to a reputable jeweler to be re-dipped.
Additionally, I have my mother's set (50+ years old) and my great grandmother's engagement ring (100 years old) all are white gold and they still look fine.
Calico696 My husband and I each have Platinum wedding bands from Tiffany. Mine has diamonds and his is a plain band. We take them to get cleaned and polished about twice a year, they do it for free at the store. My engagement ring is also platinum purchased at Jared's. We took a family stone there to be mounted. The platinum looks just as shiny. I have many white gold rings and they seem to be a bit duller but have held up very nicely. I think you should look at both and decide what look you like. I think they will both hold up very nicely
Good luck!
BrandyB I beat the heck out of my jewelry and I knew I'd do a number on a platinum ring. Platinum tends to scratch more than gold does. I opted for white gold and the ring could stand to be dipped again. The dipping is just placing rhodium over the yellow gold to make it appear white.
If you're in the market for high end wedding band, but without the huge price ticket - definitely check out a place called The Wedding Ring Hotline. They are based out of Englishtown , NJ and honestly the savings was worth the drive for us. My husband wanted a particular type of ring that we saw in Fortunoff for about $1700 - I think it was titanium and was made by some jeweler in Germany. We paid half the cost for the same ring by driving down to their shop in Englishtown. I had heard about them in a book called Bridal Bargains. Barnes and Noble carries the current edition and the pla e was also featured on Oprah, so I figured I'd check it out. Definitely a good deal!
Antimony White gold doesn't normally turn yellow if the Rhodium plating wears off, but could be any color from gray to brownish to rosy, depending on what was alloyed with gold to begin with. Pure gold doesn't "tarnish", but the alloying ingredients do, hence the odd colors if the Rhodium wears off - it's only there to make it "whiter" and provide a non-tarnishing exterior coating.
Some comparisons for reference:
http://gilletts.com.au/information.php?info_id=13
http://chemistry.about.com/od/jewelrychemistry/a/White-Gold.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_gold
The engagement ring I gave my ex was a diamond and platinum one that I found at the Birchwood Manor antique show on year. The diamond itself was about 1/3 carat, but was one of the cleanest I've ever seen. Our wedding rings were regular yellow gold, since she wasn't planning on wearing the engagement ring with it.
Phil D. Commenting is no longer available.