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I would prefer white gold. I have a 14K white gold ring and LOVE it. It is so shiny and hasn't discolored at all yet. I saw a friend's platinum ring the other day (she's had it for about 3 years) and to be honest, it was really dull looking since platinum loses it's "shine" over time.
White gold will discolor with time, not because of resizing but because the rhodium plating on the top of the yellow gold will wear off. I was looking at my ring yesterday and realized that it is yellowing at the back after 2 and a half years of marriage.
@Mrs. Fireworks: Thanks for your comment. BTW, your wedding date is my birthday - July 21 :)
I chose platinum. My reasons:
White gold can be redipped when the Rhodium starts to wear thin or discolor (and, depending on who you buy it through, you may be able to purchase a protection plan for a very small amount that will cover redipping and repairs for the life of the ring). I'm quite happy with my white gold ring.
Have you looked a palladium? My ring is palladium...it's like a secret gem of jewelery metals. It's whiter and harder than platinum, but in the same family--it's naturally white like platinum. AND 1/4 the cost!! It will "patina" like platinum does, but will not need redipping like white gold does.
With gold prices these days, you don't save that much off of platinum.
Platinum for all the reasons Abbyful stated. I really love the weight of it.
@blurmeblue: Upon your suggestion I am now extremely interested in Palladium. Going on a research rampage about it. It sounds great and from my readings so far it is highly recommended.
"Currently the price of one ounce of pure platinum is $1900 and the price for palladium is $850. Both are rare precious metals that are naturally white, both are generally 95% pure, hypoallergenic and beautiful. But one will cost you a lot more."
for me i like white gold or yellow gold because its much cheaper it really depends on your preferences and what you really like. . i also agree with lilsweetie palladium is highly recomended but its more expensive
Platinum like what Abbyful said. I really didn't like to have to worry about getting white gold re-dipped and I didn't like that you are actually loosing metal with every scratch or polish. Yes, I know, very little, but still that thought bothers me.
I prefer platinum or palladium for a white metal. The patina is part of its charm!
I got a platinum ring but looked at white gold rings too. I like the feel of platinum and the way it's duller. It doesn't look as shiny next to my future sister in law's engagement ring but I prefer it :)
for those with PLATINUM, how quickly does it start to dull and when you get it buffed does it look "good as new" again?
for those with WHITE GOLD, have you ever had it replated? what was the cost and did it look as good a new?
for those with PALLADIUM, since it is less common, do you ever have issues with people saying, "what is palladium" or thinking it is a lesser metal? Does it lose its shine and get dull easily?
I chose 18k white gold and I love it! I haven't had it long enough to deal with the re-dipping issue but the way mine is made, it will only be yellower on the back and I doubt I'll ever do anything about it. I prefer the way it looks and I didn't want my ring to be heavier. Plus, it cost too much!
I've had mine for three years (just my engagement ring, don't have my wedding ring yet) and I noticed that it looked darker next to my sis-in-law's ring when she got engaged last year. She actually got an engagement ring that is virtually identical to mine but in a white gold setting. Usually it looks fairly bright but there was a difference when placed next to her ring. Mine took around 2 and a bit years to look darker but I personally like it. :)
Sorry forgot to say, mine does look great when it's been cleaned but the BAND doesn't look like it did when I first got it cos I doubt it ever will. I don't wear it when I'm in my house due to us having a kitten who likes to eat my fingers :) but the diamond looks as good as new when it's polished. I usually take it twice a year.
Ditto on all points. I actually quite like the "gray patina" my platinum has taken on now. :)
I'm a destructive person with jewelery so my husband liked that when it gets scratched I don't lose metal rather it gets "pushed" to the side.
Where/when I got our wedding bands 18K vs Platinum was not almost double at the time of purchase.
But holy cow!!! I just looked and my oh my have platinum risen. The same exact ring my husband has now is double the price!!! Whereas mine is only $500 or so more. I guess the cost of diamond has not gone up that much then!
http://www.helzberg.com/category/education/metals.do?nType=2
This is a link I found that has comparisons of all metals on different scales: hardness, lifespan, price, etc.
How about an inbetween, go check out Palladium, as strong and durable as platinum (in the same family) but much cheaper, but won't wear like white gold.
My e-ring is platinum, but I will be looking into palladium wedding bands simply because a simple band in platinum is outrageously expensive! :)
I like platinum because I didn't want to deal with re-dipping. To me, if you have to get it redipped every couple years at $50-$100 a pop, you're paying the price over time that you would pay up front to just get a platinum ring.
I opted for white gold because I honestly didn't care for the weight of plantinum, it was too heavy and somewhat uncomfortable. As for the re-dipping a lot of jewelers offer low cost or free re-dipping plans (mine was free) so if for any reason it starts to yellow it is a quick and simple fix.
I prefer 14k white gold. Bonus is that its cheaper! I'm too worried that 18k gold won't be strong enough (probably just in my mind).
I initially thought I wanted platinum but just didn't like the look on me/my skin tone.
I actually REALLY like when it starts to get a bit faded/creamy/buttery-ish. Even then, it's not like yellow gold. It gives it the worn-in, well loved look I like so much. And even then, it's mainly on the underside of the ring, not so much the top (although, that starts to fade a bit, too). There was a bee who posted a picture a while ago (months, maybe a year now?) of a photo that shows white gold as it yellows and even at its "worst", it's not yellow (to me, at least).
I have 18k rose gold in other jewelry pieces I own and I think it wears quite well, too.
ETA: Sorry, I went off on a 14K tangent! I've never had anything 18K but for dipping purposes, when I had my 14K set done once, it came back SUPER clean and shiny, with all the little knicks buffed out. I can imagine it's the same way for 18K. Also, keep in mind that you probably have to do that once every 6 months - 1 year for a "mall variety" warranty to stay current... maybe not, though. Just what I've heard. Also, you'll need to send your ring away (most likely, from what I've heard) for a week to maybe two weeks at a time to get it done, depends on how busy they are, I suppose. Again, not sure if this is the case with a typical mall store who provides these policies, just what I've heard people say. I know I wouldn't want to deal with not having my ring for two weeks at a time once or twice a year!
I'm sad that hardly anyone favors platinum :( It's a gorgeous metal!
I have platinum rings and have had them for a year and it doesn't look dull AT ALL. You must get it polished every few months and when it scratches, it blends into the metal instead of chipping off. It is heavier, but I don't notice it. You just have to take care of it and you're fine.
I've had gold rings, but I'm allergic to the nickel in it (my skin itches really bad, it's weird), sadly. Platinum is hypoallergenic and plus I don't need to have it re-dipped because it's pure. There are some cases where white gold doesn't need to re-dipped. In the end, I think white gold and platinum are equally as beautiful....just depends on the person and what you feel is best for you! :) My mom has white gold rings and I think they're just as stunning.
P.S.
My rings are so small and dainty, you hardly feel the weight in them! :) I can totally understand if someone didn't want platinum for a larger ring.
@KnisleyToBee: Awww!
I did try to give it a sporting chance I promise! I tried on similar carat weight rings in plantinum...couldn't do it.
While we're on the topic, my sister mentioned that you can't have a white gold band and a platinum band because the metals rubbing together can cause a stone to come loose.
My e-ring is solitaire princess cut platinum band, but i wanted a white gold wedding band. Do I really have to get a matching platinum band?
@Treejewel19: Haha, it's okay! You don't want to be holding a weight on your finger, LOL! I wouldn't want to either, that much platinum must really hurt after a while--I wonder! :)
Goregous ring by the way, always love seeing it here on WB!
personally i like the way white gold wears. i like the warm undertones,(it's subtle) but thats just personal taste. I don't see getting a ring replated as much of a hassle it doesn't take long or cost much from what i've heard
That said, I also really like the patina of platinum!
Has anyone else heard of or seen 19k white gold? It's a newer metal in the jewellry world and it's actually harder, shinier, and more scratch resistant then 14k and 18k white gold. I know that usually as the carats go up, the gold gets softer, but not with 19k. I requested it when having my e-ring made and the jeweller had yet to work with it. He said he loved it and will be working with it again. It was minutely more expensive (less than $200 extra) and it's still as white, shiny, and scratch-free as when I got it. Something to look into if you're having your ring made!
Platinum will form its own patina over time, which I think is extremely beautiful. I just think it ages better and will always look how it was intended, without needing any extra attention. If I had to do it over again, I think I would've chosen platinum.
I have a white gold set that I love love love but after three years I did have to have it replated with rhodium ($25, no biggie). (Yes, I know three years is a long time, some ladies have it done every six months.) They did it in a day and it was fine and it's really no trouble, it's just . . . why should I have to do it at all? To be fair, the color "underneath" the rhodium isn't ugly, it's just . . . not the polished, mirror-like finish expected of gold (that is not expected of platinum).
Am I making sense?
It will only cost me about $30 to get my 18k white gold ring replated, which to me is not a big deal. I've had my ring for 3 months now and when you place it next to the wedding ring, which has been sitting in a ring box, you can see the yellow tinge. But on its own you really wouldn't notice. I'll get it replated right before the wedding so the rings match, but I might not bother after that since they'll wear at the same rate. Then again, it might make for a nice yearly anniversary present (the boy also has an 18K ring, cause he wanted them to match somehow), sort of a symbolic gesture of renewing our promises to each other. Hmm, never thought of that until just now but I like it! Haha.
OP, since you seem interested in Palladium now, I thought I'd share what my jeweler told me about it: She said though it shares many properties with platinum, it's a very brittle metal that is extremely difficult to re-size. So she prefers not to work with it.
When SO and I went today to order our custom ring, we had a discussion about platinum vs. white gold. I think I'll go with platinum for a few reasons (some were already mentioned):
- I don't have to re-plate every year (which she said costs only about $30 to do)
- Platinum won't wear away over time like gold does, which is important since this ring will be worn for a lifetime
- Platinum is hypo-allergenic (I don't need to worry about ever getting a reaction to it - many bees have had reactions to their gold rings when they got pregnant)
- Though it does "patina", I don't have to worrry about my ring yellowing
- I tend to like the weight of platinum
I've seen friends and family with platinum, and they still look great after very long periods of not getting them polished.
... hmmm - Now you have me thinking about starting a thread about platinum rings that haven't been polished in a while. Stay tuned! haha
ETA: I started a thread about it. Here's a link in case you want to see people's responses: http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/show-me-your-unpolished-platinum?replies=1#post-2849893
I like platinum or 19k white gold. I would use 18k white gold if I wanted to leave it unplated... I actually like the warm white look. But when looking at the cost of plat, consider that it will last much longer than gold...so if you want to pass it down for 100+ years, it will withstand that much better than gold. And with gold, you will have to keep rhodium plating it...unless you have X1 or 19k. The cost is roughly $75+, so it could be every year or more (depending on the acidity of your skin) that you will have to pay that. Platinum might be more to start with, but with a good polishing cloth, it is much less over a life time.
@jcent:I've never heard of a polishing cloth that can be used to polish platinum at home - I must learn more about this!
At Shane Co. all the women there said they have 14k white gold and they love it. It's cheaper than 18k but looks exactly the same and requires the same frequency of replating with rhodium (every yr or so). They have seen platinum rings come in with the setting bent because it got knocked against something and it was softer than W/G would be.
For pricing, the solitare setting in platinum was $745 and white gold was $225. He is going to put the $500 savings into a larger stone instead!
@lumos: thank you so much for this info on palladium being brittle and difficult to work with and to resize. I think now after going to a few jewellery stores yesterday we will go with white gold.
@lilsweetie: No worries!
Just so you know, with regards to the platinum bent for some customers, that would only happen if knocked super hard, in which case I've heard gold would just chip right off (so the bending of platinum is actually a good thing because its flexibility means the ring won't lose any metal.)
If the upfront price of the WG is better for you, that's cool. Just remember that the yearly cleanings will add up if you do them all your life..
I just want to make sure you have rounded out info from both sides - so glad you're about to get your rings made!!
I've gone for palladium. It is often cheaper than white gold and has the same properties as platinum, so no replating-yay!
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Do you think it is worth the extra cost for the platinum rings (about double the price or more) for engagement ring and for wedding band?
They look almost identical ( to me) but I worry about the white gold discoloring with time, especially where it has been resized. Has anyone had issues with discoloration?