now that the prices of everything has gone up so substantially, i've been thinking about getting a white gold wedding band.
what have other people done?
i know the two metals age differently, but my wedding band will have small diamonds all the way around so i'm hoping it won't really show. at the same time, a part of me wants it to be matching in platinum!
Personally, both my bands will be white gold, but that's just because we couldn't afford a platinum band for the size diamond I want. However, if you can barely see the white gold on the band for your wedding ring, it may be a good option. They definitely do have a different look, though, so it really depends on how much is showing. How much more is the band in platinum than in white gold? Is it worth the money for a matching band? A lot of jewelry stores have payment plans, too. You could look into one of those.
Personally, I would want them matching. After all, these are the rings you're going to be wearing every day for the rest of your life. If now isn't the time to splurge and get it right, when is?
I looked at both white gold and platinum when picking out my rings, and I happen to think that they look very different. So I'm not sure I would be happy to wear them together just based on that.
If you're planning on having the rings soldered together, you need to be picky about your jeweler - improper joining of gold and platinum can cause the platinum to be brittle.
If you're not planning on having them soldered together, then the gold will wear because of rubbing against the harder platinum. You would have wear with two unsoldered gold rings, but the problem will be worse with gold rubbing against platinum.
I worried some about the prices when we looked at getting our wedding rings too - since they had gone up so much since we bought the e-ring. However, DH simply said that he wasn't going to make the decision for what he considered the ring of a lifetime based on saving a a little bit of money right now. And in the end I think he was right. After all, it's not like you can expect the price to have dropped hugely in ten years when you have so much wear that you start to think about replacing the wedding ring. And by then you'll be buying a house, or having kids, or something else that is a competing priority for how you spend your money. If you really can't afford the ring in platinum, maybe make it a half-eternity rather than full, and it the cost difference will be a wash.
My e-ring is white gold. I love the diamond and the setting but the band turns yellow (I hear that it's tarnish and can be buffed out) and scratches easy. I love it still! My wedding band is going to be palladium. We research and found that it's a happy medium between white gold and palladium. I'm not going to have them soldered so I don't have to worry about that.
You really need to look into if the metals will tarnish each other. You may not be able to wear palladium with a white gold ring as one could scratch and ruin the other. I saw a chart about it somewhere but can't find it now. DEFINITELY something to talk about with a jeweler.
i have a platinum engagement ring and a palladium wedding band. the jeweler told me that the platinum engagement ring will "gray" over the years if i don't get it cleaned and machined. The palladium will pretty much stay the same.
My engagement ring is platinum. For my wedding band, I am using my mother's white gold one -- from 1970. They are great together.
One jeweler told me that the gold was softer and would get scratched or worn down by the platinum -- but, then again, the jeweler has a financial interest in selling me a new ring! So I got a second opinion from another jeweler who I trust, and that person told me that it's absolutely fine to wear the platinum and the white gold together. I also researched it a bit on the Web and spoke with a friend has been wearing "mixed metals" for years.
I think it's perfectly fine to mix the metals and am very happy I did so.
I think that if you were to wear white gold and platinum together, you should expect some wearing of the gold, depending on what carat the gold is (higher the carat, the purer the gold, thus the softer the metal and the more likely it will wear.) They also stick other metals in white gold, so it might be a good idea to make sure that none of them react with one another.
My engagement ring is white gold and my wedding ring is platinum but in my case it didn't really matter that much as my wedding ring is an eternity band and you really can't see the metal at all. I prefer white gold as it stays shiney and doesn't change into the flat grey that platinum tends to do. I realize that I may need to get my e-ring redipped at some point too. I also don't see myself wearing both rings together all the time either.
Earlier post called it, Palladium is a good option too. Everyone in England is using it but if you have stones on one band it should be fine. It wouldnt bother me but if it bothers you now dont do it. Or just swap it on your 10 year anniversary when you add more stones to both! :)
Palladium is great if you can find someone who works with it. It requires different tools than anything else and isn't hugely popular yet, so people who work with it are limited.
Maryallison: Yes, your jeweler gets more immediatlely if you go platinum, but you can $40 re-plate your way to a much bigger bill than in initial investment. And he's not lying. Initially, they can look good together. And how fast the white gold will change colors depends on the mixture used to make it. BUT your platinum ring WILL damage the softer white gold, meaning replating and sometimes remolding and THAT AINT CHEAP!
Best bet chickadee is Palladium or the initial investment in platinum. (I know the feeling - I have a platinum e-ring and saw the price dif and started with the "maybe ill just get a white gold band"... after MANY hours of research, Im getting a platinum band.
What about Titanium or some other silver metal? I know it's very hard, I can't imagine that your platinum ring with damage it. I'm going with an inexpensive Titanum ring for me and my FH. My Ering is Platinum and I'll proabably upgrade at a later date. We are paying for the wedding mostly on our own. I'd rather spend the extra money on my friends and family to have a great time than on a ring for myself.
ok in the end, i just decided to go with platinum! we still got a really great deal from Windy City Diamonds (Chicago) and this way i won't have any regrets!
I am going with both in platinum because as above posters have noted the metals may wear differently or rub off each other. The cost is really only minimal when you consider you will be wearing it for a lifetime.
Shop around and see what you can find. bluenile.com (where FI got both my rings) has lots of options.
NYAmber, I don't know that titanium + platinum is a good combination. Platinum is harder than most other precious metals, true. But titanium is much harder than platinum... the titanium ring will almost definitely damage the platinum ring. And since titanium is much less expensive than platinum, I don't know if that's a good combination. Unless of course you're going to wear the rings on different hands, but then metals wouldn't matter so much anyway.
i'm so torn... my engagement ring is platinum.
now that the prices of everything has gone up so substantially, i've been thinking about getting a white gold wedding band.
what have other people done?
i know the two metals age differently, but my wedding band will have small diamonds all the way around so i'm hoping it won't really show. at the same time, a part of me wants it to be matching in platinum!
posted by vee 172 posts 4 months agoPersonally, both my bands will be white gold, but that's just because we couldn't afford a platinum band for the size diamond I want. However, if you can barely see the white gold on the band for your wedding ring, it may be a good option. They definitely do have a different look, though, so it really depends on how much is showing. How much more is the band in platinum than in white gold? Is it worth the money for a matching band? A lot of jewelry stores have payment plans, too. You could look into one of those.
Personally, I would want them matching. After all, these are the rings you're going to be wearing every day for the rest of your life. If now isn't the time to splurge and get it right, when is?
posted by meggyg8r 94 posts 4 months agoI looked at both white gold and platinum when picking out my rings, and I happen to think that they look very different. So I'm not sure I would be happy to wear them together just based on that.
If you're planning on having the rings soldered together, you need to be picky about your jeweler - improper joining of gold and platinum can cause the platinum to be brittle.
If you're not planning on having them soldered together, then the gold will wear because of rubbing against the harder platinum. You would have wear with two unsoldered gold rings, but the problem will be worse with gold rubbing against platinum.
I worried some about the prices when we looked at getting our wedding rings too - since they had gone up so much since we bought the e-ring. However, DH simply said that he wasn't going to make the decision for what he considered the ring of a lifetime based on saving a a little bit of money right now. And in the end I think he was right. After all, it's not like you can expect the price to have dropped hugely in ten years when you have so much wear that you start to think about replacing the wedding ring. And by then you'll be buying a house, or having kids, or something else that is a competing priority for how you spend your money. If you really can't afford the ring in platinum, maybe make it a half-eternity rather than full, and it the cost difference will be a wash.
posted by suzanno 1,981 posts 4 months agoYou may want to consider palladium, it ages similarly to platinum.
posted by jenniferb 47 posts 4 months agoMy e-ring is white gold. I love the diamond and the setting but the band turns yellow (I hear that it's tarnish and can be buffed out) and scratches easy. I love it still! My wedding band is going to be palladium. We research and found that it's a happy medium between white gold and palladium. I'm not going to have them soldered so I don't have to worry about that.
Hope that helps!
posted by jswink 10 posts 4 months agoYou really need to look into if the metals will tarnish each other. You may not be able to wear palladium with a white gold ring as one could scratch and ruin the other. I saw a chart about it somewhere but can't find it now. DEFINITELY something to talk about with a jeweler.
posted by meggyg8r 94 posts 4 months agoi have a platinum engagement ring and a palladium wedding band. the jeweler told me that the platinum engagement ring will "gray" over the years if i don't get it cleaned and machined. The palladium will pretty much stay the same.
posted by bettingimnot 19 posts 4 months agoMy engagement ring is platinum. For my wedding band, I am using my mother's white gold one -- from 1970. They are great together.
One jeweler told me that the gold was softer and would get scratched or worn down by the platinum -- but, then again, the jeweler has a financial interest in selling me a new ring! So I got a second opinion from another jeweler who I trust, and that person told me that it's absolutely fine to wear the platinum and the white gold together. I also researched it a bit on the Web and spoke with a friend has been wearing "mixed metals" for years.
I think it's perfectly fine to mix the metals and am very happy I did so.
posted by maryalison 105 posts 4 months agoI think that if you were to wear white gold and platinum together, you should expect some wearing of the gold, depending on what carat the gold is (higher the carat, the purer the gold, thus the softer the metal and the more likely it will wear.) They also stick other metals in white gold, so it might be a good idea to make sure that none of them react with one another.
posted by missbean 131 posts 4 months agoMy engagement ring is white gold and my wedding ring is platinum but in my case it didn't really matter that much as my wedding ring is an eternity band and you really can't see the metal at all. I prefer white gold as it stays shiney and doesn't change into the flat grey that platinum tends to do. I realize that I may need to get my e-ring redipped at some point too. I also don't see myself wearing both rings together all the time either.
posted by meli 61 posts 4 months agoEarlier post called it, Palladium is a good option too. Everyone in England is using it but if you have stones on one band it should be fine. It wouldnt bother me but if it bothers you now dont do it. Or just swap it on your 10 year anniversary when you add more stones to both! :)
posted by ju1244 254 posts 4 months agoPalladium is great if you can find someone who works with it. It requires different tools than anything else and isn't hugely popular yet, so people who work with it are limited.
Maryallison: Yes, your jeweler gets more immediatlely if you go platinum, but you can $40 re-plate your way to a much bigger bill than in initial investment. And he's not lying. Initially, they can look good together. And how fast the white gold will change colors depends on the mixture used to make it. BUT your platinum ring WILL damage the softer white gold, meaning replating and sometimes remolding and THAT AINT CHEAP!
Best bet chickadee is Palladium or the initial investment in platinum. (I know the feeling - I have a platinum e-ring and saw the price dif and started with the "maybe ill just get a white gold band"... after MANY hours of research, Im getting a platinum band.
posted by mdarrah 40 posts 4 months agoWhat about Titanium or some other silver metal? I know it's very hard, I can't imagine that your platinum ring with damage it. I'm going with an inexpensive Titanum ring for me and my FH. My Ering is Platinum and I'll proabably upgrade at a later date. We are paying for the wedding mostly on our own. I'd rather spend the extra money on my friends and family to have a great time than on a ring for myself.
posted by NYAmber 40 posts 4 months agook in the end, i just decided to go with platinum! we still got a really great deal from Windy City Diamonds (Chicago) and this way i won't have any regrets!
posted by vee 172 posts 4 months agoI am going with both in platinum because as above posters have noted the metals may wear differently or rub off each other. The cost is really only minimal when you consider you will be wearing it for a lifetime.
Shop around and see what you can find. bluenile.com (where FI got both my rings) has lots of options.
posted by MsB 212 posts 4 months agoNYAmber, I don't know that titanium + platinum is a good combination. Platinum is harder than most other precious metals, true. But titanium is much harder than platinum... the titanium ring will almost definitely damage the platinum ring. And since titanium is much less expensive than platinum, I don't know if that's a good combination. Unless of course you're going to wear the rings on different hands, but then metals wouldn't matter so much anyway.
posted by peihan17 222 posts 4 months ago