- sunnywoods
- 9 years ago
- Wedding: October 2012
I have a sapphire, white gold e-ring. Since some of you guys seem to know a lot about rings, what kind of up keep do I have to do?
I have a sapphire, white gold e-ring. Since some of you guys seem to know a lot about rings, what kind of up keep do I have to do?
Depending on what karat gold it is, you will have to get it “re-dipped” every so often to keep it looking white and shiny with rhodium plating.
Gold is naturally yellow, there is no such thing as WHITE gold. White gold rings are made with a certain percentage of yellow gold and many white alloy metals (such as nickel). If you have a 10K white gold ring, it will look more white than an 18K white gold ring (after some wear and tear) since the 10K has less yellow gold and more alloy metals.
I wear my Grandmother’s white gold wedding band on my thumb. Every day, I never take it off. It has never been re-dipped, or cleaned for that matter. Oh it isn’t shiny, but nothing has worn off either! And it is almost 100 years old!
It can depend on the amount of oils your skin puts out. I’m really bad with white gold and turn it slight yellow easily and tarnish silver quickly. My bff is fine with both. The dipping works well.
If you go back to the jeweler it was purchased from they should be able to do the re-dip for less than $30. I decided I would re-dip every two years as part of my birthday rituals:
Rituals: mamogram, gyn exam, re-read A Wrinkel in Time, redip engagement ring- check, check, check.
My engagement ring is (or will be.. waiting on it to come in at the jewelers!!) platinum and my wedding band (have it, don’t wear it yet) is white gold. The jeweler we went to offered a plan that allows me to have it re-dipped as often as I want for life, which is awesome. some people’s don’t tarnish as much as others and I don’t know why. As with any ring, you may want to insure it (but again, up to you. We can easily add ours on to our house policy but will need to get them appraised by an outside appraiser). I have friends that baby their rings, but I dont know if I will. I will probably take them off when gardening or doing a lot of cleaning.
Bumping up –
My e-ring is white gold and I am absulutely smitten with it. However, I did notice it had a yellowish tint and when I search WB for threads I was surprised to discover I’d have to redip to keep it looking as brilliant as when he first put it on my finger. 🙁
I do wonder, is once a year sufficient or does dipping too much ruin the ring? I believe mine is 14k white gold.
My ring is from Zales. In the lifetime protection plan I can get it cleaned and replated as much as I want. I have it done every six months when I take it in for inspections.
Thanks for the info. I got the ring in the beginning of December and just noticed the slight tint this month, so eh…. I will have to try and keep it to once a year though!
Is it true they sometimes have to take the diamonds out? *skered*
Is it just discolored on the bottom? Did you have it sized when you got it? If so it could be that they didn’t replate it after sizing or that it wasn’t done well. If it’s the whole ring it could be that you’re one of those people whose body chemistry causes it to wear off more quickly. Either way, they won’t have to take out the diamonds. It’s really a very simple process. They will clean the ring and polish off old rhodium if needed and then put it in a “bath” of rhodium. The rhodium will adhere to the gold and not the stones. It won’t harm your ring at all.
I did have to get it resized after I got it (he bought it as I had tried it on in the store) but that was late January and it seems to look like it on the sides as well. I am just relieved to hear they won’t have to take out the diamonds.
It’s probably your body chemistry then. My daughter is the same way. Within just a few months her rings turn yellowish. But yeah, I wouldn’t worry about it. Just pop in when they’re looking yellowish and have them re-dip it.
My 18K white gold goes yellow quite quickly and although I have my ering and wedding band done in 19K so they stay white, I have heard that white gold mixed with palladium instead of nickel also works. I am not too sure how available that option is however.
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