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FAQ: Rhodium Plating & White Gold

Not real happy with that "yellowish" white gold ring, huh?

I can't get a straight answer! Is all gold yellow or not? Gold is an element and it's yellow. So pure 24 kt gold is yellow. But jewelry isn't made from 24 kt gold because it's too soft to be usable. What is gold jewelry made of if not pure gold? Gold jewelry is made from an alloy of gold plus other metals. 12 kt gold is 12/24ths gold and 12/24ths other metals. The color of the alloy depends on what those other metals are. What is "white gold"? 12 karat white gold would be half gold and half other metals, including palladium and/or nickel. Nickel is much cheaper than palladium, so it is widely used in white gold jewelry in the U.S.; but so many people are allergic to nickel that it is forbidden in jewelry in Europe, and palladium would be used there instead. What is rhodium? Now it gets interesting! Rhodium is a metal ten times as costly as gold. It is not a feasible material to make solid jewelry from because it is too stressed and brittle, but rhodium is fabulous as a plating for jewelry because it is glitteringly, dazzlingly, white and mirror-like. It makes diamonds look bigger and better because it's so bright that it's almost hard to see where the stones end and the metal begins. Nothing sets off diamonds like rhodium plating does, but it is only a plating and therefore it will wear off and require replating. Have things changed between your grandmother's white gold ring and yours? Yes! Years ago, white gold rings were not rhodium plated; today they usually are. Which is better and why? Well, if you feel that heirlooms should not require replating, you won't be happy with a rhodium plated ring. But if you love today's brilliant, dazzling, ultra-white diamond-like look, you simply can't get it from an unplated ring, and you never could. No matter how well it's made, an unplated alloy which is about half yellow gold can never even come close to offering the flashy glint of rhodium plating. Yes, your grandmother's ring lasted decades and never needed plating, but it was never dazzling like today's rings -- it was bright enough for her taste in a different time. Where's the part where it starts to suck? If today's rings were like your grandmother's ring except with a layer of rhodium plated onto them, people would be happy. If you wanted it to knock your eye out you'd get it replated frequently; and if a more antique look pleased you, and you object to replating heirlooms, you'd just let the plating wear off or ask the jeweler not to plate it. But most of today's rings are not of the same alloy as your grandmother's! Once the jewelers recognized that "it's going to be rhodium plated anyway" they talked themselves into accepting that the underlying metal didn't need to be the pleasing shade of your grandmother's ring. White gold is graded by color, i.e., whether it's white enough to be left unplated -- and most of today's white gold isn't (if interested, see the article White Gold Alloys: Colour Measurement and Grading at www.goldbulletin.org/downloads/Henderson_2_38.pdf which explains this whiteness factor). In fact, jewelry stores in the center aisle of malls sometimes rhodium plate yellow gold rings, and the contrast as they start to wear is terrible!

How long will the plating last? This is the big question, but the answer isn't easy. First, it depends on whether it's a ring (which suffers a great deal of wear), or a pin or broach which receives almost no contact. And it depends to some extent on that old bugaboo "body chemistry". But it also depends on two other very important and controllable factors -- How good is the quality of the plating? Good quality plating will last far longer than a very thin layer of plating applied from a teacup of contaminated plating solution in the back room of a jewelry shop. Courtesy of Metal Arts Specialties / www.artisanplating.com we offer a tutorial about rhodium plating. What color is the underlying gold? If the white gold underlying the rhodium plating is a nice acceptable color, there will be nothing jarring as the plating begins to wear a bit thin in spots, so you can go a long time between replating. If the color is slightly yellowish, more frequent replating will be necessary because the item will look poor that much sooner. And if the underlying material is strongly yellow or is actually yellow gold, the contrast will be dramatic, and replating will be required very frequently. Yes, you can get your yellow gold jewelry rhodium plated, but if the piece experiences significant wear, the good appearance may last only a fairly short time even if the rhodium plating quality is good, and almost no time if the plating is poor. Here are some Q&A threads on the subject if you wish to read more: Letter 1237. Plating rhodium on white gold Letter 5844. Response to white gold issue Letter 8502. Rhodium plating Letter 9403. Test to determine if band is white gold or yellow gold plated with rhodium Letter 10113. Quick fade Rhodium plating Letter 10202. White gold discoloration Letter 12798. Rhodium plating over yellow gold Letter 13132. White gold or Rhodium plated confusion or deception  Letter 15419. Rhodium plating Letter 22709. Sizing rhodium plated white gold rings Letter 26618. Rhodium plating a white gold ring with engraved detail If this list didn't cover what you were looking for, please Search the site because this is only a sample of the dozens of threads we have on this topic. Good luck with your ring, and if you found this page informative, please tell others about it!

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