Jul 07, 2015
The Surprising Facts About White Gold
LISA
For starters, though gold is found in nature, white gold most certainly is anything but natural. In order to make it, manufacturers mix pure, 24-carat gold with an alloy—usually nickel or platinum—that acts as a bleaching agent and strips out any hint of color. Well, almost any color. That’s because gold’s natural warmth can never be completely erased, even when combined with the highest-quality alloy. So to give the metal the appearance of being colorless, many jewelers will plate it with rhodium.
This is a great workaround, except that over time, the plating wears down and reveals a brownish tone. Depending on how often you wear the jewelry, that erosion can be gradual. In a wedding or engagement ring, for instance, the first signs of weathering usually crop up after a year or two and most often around where the band meets the palm and at the tips of the setting.
You can always ask a jeweler to check for signs of erosion, though spotting it on your own is easy, too. Just lay the piece of jewelry on a sheet of stark white paper (a sheet of looseleaf is fine), in a brightly lit room, and eyeball it for any discolorations. In most cases, rhodium plating needs to be redone once every couple of years. It’s a quick job—most jewelers can finish it in about two hours—and it’s fairly inexpensive. Most shops charge anywhere from $50 to $130.
But it’s not just rhodium plating that should be considered when shopping for white gold jewelry. The alloy used is also a concern. Nickel is the metal of choice for almost all white gold because it does the best job bleaching out color and creates a strong, durable piece of jewelry. But one caveat: Nickel allergies are surprisingly common and, worse, can develop over time. If you’re sensitive to the metal, you probably won’t be able to wear the white gold jewelry.
As custom jewelers, the last thing we want is for a client to invest in a ring and a couple of years later develop an allergy to the metal. That’s why we only carry white gold that’s blended with platinum or palladium. It’s not much more expensive and, because it’s a little softer than nickel, it’s a great metal to set stones in. This means that you can have the ring of your dreams and never worry about having to take it off.
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Dan Seitsinger
Jul 10, 2022Good day. I inherited my Grandfather's Wedding ring when he passed away in 1991. It ORIGINALLY had a single diamond in the center and I was told that it was "White Gold". After reading your article about White Gold, I now know a little bit more about the ring. After I received the ring, I had 2 smaller diamonds added to the ring.