Hello everyone, I hate to make my very first post here be about metals since there are so many other fabulous threads about gemstones I want to dig into....
I'm not a metal smith (just a gem nut) and am confused about the metal in a ring I just had replaced with a better grade/color saturation natural Thai ruby. My question is if 18K gold can be layered over a platinum head where the stones are mounted. I thought nothing could "go over" platinum? Sorry for the duh question...
I use an older jeweler (they're def not a newbie) who passes through twice a year here, the ring is stamped 18K, he resized it and said nothing about anything being off for that, set the new ruby, no comments besides it's gorgeous and untreated. It has plenty of real diamonds, am not worried it's "gold over sterling" (and the resizing would have nixed that) but why or how could the underside of the head be bright platinum with a bit of yellow gold here and there along the side shank, coming down into an obviously solid 18K band, and the visible head portions of the ring are a nice 18K glow? Can someone educate me on this? I thought platinum and gold mixes were used for color/design contrast purposes, or do some people use platinum in heads because of it's strength/hardness?
Everything looks correct from the top and sides, the pierced open areas show/face as gold, it's just the under-head where the stones are mounted that's a definite platinum color. I didn't upload a photo as I think I read you have to ask permission first.
Again, sorry for the newbie metal babble, I'm more interested in gems but want to know what's going on in that ring (I don't have his phone number, no one to ask). This site is fabulous, I can't wait to read more of it. Thank you for looking (and any educating).
Oh okay! I will try here, thank you! Ummm not sure am doing this right...upload a file here instead of on a host? Let me know if not, I will take this attachment down, the host pics are very tiny. But see how this looks odd? I thought you do not put gold over platinum but can do it the other way around.
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
I suspect the ring was plated in rhodium (the whitest member of the platinum family) and then polished off. Couldn't reach the underside of the ring with the polishing wheels they were using.
They often use rhodium over white gold, or so I understand. rhodium actually costs more than gold and looks better than white gold. (Currently platinum costs less than gold.)
I suspect the ring was plated in rhodium (the whitest member of the platinum family) and then polished off. Couldn't reach the underside of the ring with the polishing wheels they were using.
dchallener wrote:
They often use rhodium over white gold, or so I understand. rhodium actually costs more than gold and looks better than white gold. (Currently platinum costs less than gold.)
OMG! That is crazy! Why would anyone rhodium plate a yellow gold ring with ruby? Or maybe the original owner...wait a minute, so, it's likely the original finish was the yellow gold since it's stamped 18K, someone rhodium plated it, then decided they didn't like it (or whoever had it next) and had it polished off? That is nuts, but makes sense, but seems like an awful lot of work/$ to invest. I know I've read where women want their wedding or engagements rings rhodium plated when they don't like the look, but...geeeez, the poor ring must have a complex by now with all this "fixing" lol! I thought it was weird! Thank you for the answers!
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
No, it is not crazy at all. Many jewelry stores offer plating options when a customer is unhappy with the color of the metal. White metal has been fashionable for a couple of decades. It is much less expensive to plate a ring than re-set it. The opposite was true in the late 20th century. Yellow gold was preferable so many white metal pieces were plated in yellow.
Often yellow gold rings that have diamond side stones are plated with rhodium where the diamond galleries are to avoid the diamonds drawing yellow color from the metal.
No, it is not crazy at all. Many jewelry stores offer plating options when a customer is unhappy with the color of the metal. White metal has been fashionable for a couple of decades. It is much less expensive to plate a ring than re-set it. The opposite was true in the late 20th century. Yellow gold was preferable so many white metal pieces were plated in yellow.
1bwana1 wrote:
Often yellow gold rings that have diamond side stones are plated with rhodium where the diamond galleries are to avoid the diamonds drawing yellow color from the metal.
Thank you for that explanation! Makes perfect sense about not wanting diamonds to take on a yellow tone, logical. I think the mystery is SOLVED! I don't know how I missed this forum over all these years, there is a HUGE amount of info in here! Thank you for making such a wonderful online forum for all people!
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