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My ring's white gold. I've had it for over a year and haven't noticed it turning gold or anything. It's been re-coated once, when I'd taken it in for my inspection/cleaning. A bonus with it getting re-coated is that it takes out the little scratches and makes your ring look brand spanking new. It's also free at our jeweler's, with their little maintenance plan you can buy with your ring.
No offense to anyone intended, but I think platinum is one of the biggest rip offs in the entire jewelry/wedding industry -- why buy one ring when you can buy this other that looks the same for over twice the price? It won't yellow, but it will turn a dull gray after a while, so people will often decide to get them re-coated, too.
I needed to get mine replated after I was wearing it for ~4 months, then again ~4 months later (right before the wedding). It's been 5 months since the wedding, and it hasn't even started to yellow. When I first went in to get it replated, the jeweler said that depending on your body chemistry, the metal may turn yellow quicker. I'm thinking that maybe I haven't needed to get it replated again since the wedding because of the decreased stress level? Nothing else has changed, except that I'm wearing it on my right hand, but my wedding band is also white gold, and that hasn't turned yellow either (on my left hand).
But yes, it's normal for it to need replating after 6 months. I'd wait to reset it until well after the wedding.
Since I'm quite clumsy with my hands, I specifically steered away from platinum. I'd rather have little scratches than big, unremovable dents in my ring. I'm sure I'll have to get it re-plated, but that's Ok with me.
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My ring is white gold and I've had it for around 9 months, and haven't noticed any discoloration. However, I may get mine recoated before our wedding, as I've dinged it up over the last several months. I never take mine off and I have gotten some small little nicks in it from everyday use. Personally, I was totally fine wtih white gold instead of platiunum, for us it was a price issue. Like bluegreenjean, recoating is covered as part of the lifetime warranty policy I have at our jeweler. You should check with your jeweler.
When I started looking, I was 'dead set' on platinum. Several jewelers actually recommended against it for me though, because even though it's harder to 'dent', the dents/scratches are on it for a lifetime once it is. So... I got the 18k gold. I hope i like it. (If I don't, they do offer my ring in platinum too!)
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I read on here- can't remember the post- that hand sanitizer can react with the plating of white gold jewelry and tarnish it. Just something to keep in mind.
My husband's wedding band is white gold. We've been married just over 4 months and just the other day he mentioned to me that he thought his ring looked tarnished. It not very obvious and I'm not sure, but the plating may need to be redone sometime soon.
From what I know about platinum (what I wear)... platinum is actually easier to scratch than gold, since it's a softer metal. However, the metal just moves to the sides of the scratch rather than being scraped off, like would happen with white gold. That's why it does lose some shinyness after a while but can be buffed/polished back to the way it was. It doesn't need to be plated like white gold.
That said, I have my great-grandmother's 10k white gold wedding ring and it's still very white!
my ring is white gold and i got it redipped because I did everything in it. I suggest taking your ring off when you exercise and are doing anything that can scratch it so you do not have to get it redipped as often.
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We're going to get white gold based on cost, but all of the above is great info. I had a friend try to push me towards platinum because I would have to get the white gold recoated - however, that doesn't seem like as big of a deal as she was making it. Is there an average sort of cost for the recoating? I don't know if the jeweler we're going to get our rings from has a warranty policy to cover it, but I plan on asking!
when I was deciding between white gold and platinum, I heard the same thing - platinum is easily scratched but can be buffed to look like new (kind of like ironing a wrinkled shirt). White gold actually wears away so you have to have it dipped to make it look white again.
My jeweler offers both services for free as much as you want (but they don't recommend buffing more than twice a year b/c a micro amount can be worn away if you buff too frequently). The sales girl at the store told me she gets her white gold rings dipped every month. I didn't have a strong preference since scratches can be fixed on both...so my husband ended up picking platinum for my e-ring.
When I picked out my wedding band I ended up picking palladium for cost reasons. It's a full eternity band so you can't see much metal, but I really can't tell the difference between the two rings except the palladium ring is not as heavy. I think palladium is a good option and I haven't noticed any scratching at all.
A jeweler talked us out of platinum also. Yes, white gold needs to be replated, but I'd rather that than have my ring filed down.
I've had mine since October, and it hasn't turned yellow yet. But I'm sure I will need it done before my Sept. wedding.
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I'm a yellow gold person, but when we went and got our ring, they said they couldn't do an all gold ring and that the top had to be white gold- fine, and it looked better too. Then I had to get it resized and thats where the problems came in- it started to turn yellow. I have had the ring for 2 1/2 years now and have had to get it re-rhodimized 3x. I need another coating but I have started wearing another ring I got a year ago instead- and will probably use that ring as my engagement ring and get a band for it instead.
It may just be the composition of my skin or something- maybe I'm not totally normal. I'm not rough on the ring. I take it off in the shower or to do dishes.
Don't go the white gold route- do palladium if you are worrying about money.
the jeweler actually told us about this when we picked my setting out, but i knew i would KILL a platinum setting. mine has yellowed on the underneath (towards my palm), but not at all on the top. it began changing colors probably within 4 or 5 months of wearing it, but like you i wear it every day (i never take it off). i've had my ring a little over a year now but i haven't had the ring recoated yet. you can't tell from the top, so i'm just waiting until closer to the wedding.
I have a platinum ring because prices in the metal had dropped significantly when we purchased it. Platinum only shifts, unlike gold which will will wear away over time. As it gets scratched, platinum develops a gray patina, which (granted) a lot of people don't like. You can buff and polish platinum back to a high lustre. You never replate platinum; that would be a waste of money.
White gold turning yellow is dependent on your body chemistry and how abusive you are to your rings. I know people who've had to replate every 3 months (a friend actually had to replate after 6 weeks...but that was due to a shoddy first go). My sister has a 14k white gold ring for 3 years and it is now just turning yellow.
Lower karat white gold rings take less "time" (again, in relation to your body chemistry) because they have less gold (a yellow metal) in them. As gold is mixed with white metals, a 10k white gold ring would usually yellow slower than an 18k white gold ring.
The cost of replating is on your jeweler. Some have replating for life, which is a great deal if you want white gold. I know others who pay about $50-$75 a go...it's not good if you're one of those people who yellow your ring quickly.
I hope this helps! I love my platinum setting, while I'm planning on getting a palladium or titanium wedding band (I wanted a gold one because I love mixing metals, but the platinum would eat away the gold over time...boo).
I have a white gold ring that I've been wearing every day for more than three years. I keep it on when washing my hands and cleaning, but not when I work out or shower...and it looks just the same now as it did the day I received it.
Others are right that the composition of your skin may not agree with white gold -- have you worn any other white gold jewelry that has become discolored?
If you're worried about this continuing to happen, it might be worth getting platinum. I wouldn't worry so much about the cost -- since this is something you're going to have foreve and wear all the time, it's worth getting something that will last.
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I've had my platinum ring for a year now, and all I do is put it in cleaning solution once a week and do a quick polish every couple months or so and it looks great. The cost was more, but I knew I'd be too lazy to get a white gold ring replated. I'm pretty rough on it, but it doesn't show any scratches yet. But, it could be that I don't see scratches because they might be less obvious on the design I have since it is open (kind of like Mrs. Cherry Pie's).
I've had my white gold ring for 6 months and don't take it off unless I'm showering and I haven't noticed any discoloration yet. I have tons of teeny scratches on the back. Good to know about the replating!
I've had my e-ring 15 months now, and I've had it re-plated twice. I have pretty chunky setting, and I like the mirror finish look when it's just been plated, so I take it in fairly often. It's really not that expensive, so why not?
My mom has been wearing her white gold rings for almost 50 years now; she's had them replated about three times in all those years. They don't look yellow at all.
How long your rhodium plating lasts is going to depend a whole lot on where you take your ring. If the ring isn't clean, the plating won't adhere correctly. A lot of mall jewelers simply don't have the capability to produce a rhodium plating of the correct thickness, so it will wear through much too quickly. If you're going to have your ring plated, you really want to take it to a jeweler who does his own metalwork. Also, DO NOT try to buff or polish your white gold ring - all that does is wear the coating more quickly. However, I agree that 6 months is way too quick. I would take the ring into a good custom jeweler and ask him to tell you what is going on.
I've had my white gold engagement ring for two years of daily wear and tear and it is just beginning to turn slightly yellow on the bottom. The only way I could tell it is yellowing is because my wedding band is still very white next to the yellowing engagement ring's band. I do notice tiny scratches on both bands from wearing them everyday, but I like that it gives them character and shows they are worn with love almost constantly. Also, I like being married long enough to have scratches on my bands! Probably won't get mine replated until the wedding band starts to yellow and then get both done at once. We were set on platinum, too, until I saw an older co-worker's rings and assumed she was on her second marriage by how brand new her rings looked. She said she was on her first marriage. I asked if she recently upgraded her settings. She said the rings were over 50 years old, they just looked brand new because they were replated. That was what really sold me on white gold!
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Our jewler told us about this when we purchased our rings, as they're both white gold. If they start to yellow, then we were told to bring them in and our warranty will cover this. I've had my ring almost five months and no sign of yellowing yet!
Paladium is 2 elements down from platinum, is half the price of platinum and polishes the same. White gold will have to be dipped regularly and every time it's polished you lose a little. Platinum and paladium don't lose any metal when polished. Mine is platinum, his is paladium. Side by side match and they'll wear the same.
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Yes it does lose the rhodium coating after a while. But that doesn't bug me. I love gold. For somer eason it just has a warmer touch to it than platinum to me. I'm just not a platinum kind of girl. I wear this white gold necklace for two years now, maybe about 3x a week. I haven't noticed any discoloration. But then again, my chest doesn't sweat very often. I heard, that the yellowing color is actually not bad on a white gold once the rhodium wears away. But I am yet to see it.
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At the time we selected our e-ring our jeweler urged us to get white gold because of the price differential between gold and platinum (though I had set in my mind platinum). I gave in because of the fact that I really couldn't tell the difference. Well about a month ago I noticed that the bottom of my ring looks yellow. After doing some research I learned that this is normal for the ring to turn color with "wear" due to the fact that white gold is not a natural metal - its yellow gold with a rhodium coating. I have only had my ring 6 months and it is seems as though this happened way to quick. Now I do wear it all the time and while doing everything from dance (which is a lot of barre work), exercising, etc , but I take it off when I clean. However, I wonder if I am way to hard on the ring. I am definitely getting it recoated for the wedding.
Are others noticing this about their ring? When did it begin to occur? And has anyone got their ring recoated already? Do you think its worth getting a platinum setting?