Was I ripped off????

joxerdaly

I got married in mid November last and my platinum (mens) wedding ring is already badly scratched and chipped. I work in an office and have not done anything in the last weeks to cause it any damage. The reason I am very distressed because I spent over €1000 so I would get a good ring. I though Platinum was very hard wearing and would look good for some time. What should I do. Feel like getting my money back and buying a cheaper ring if its not going to look good anyway. Have I any come back with the jewellers? Has anyone every experienced any problem like this? Does anyone know about Platinum rings?
Thanks
Joxer from Athlone.

cathy.mac

:)Hi
Just to say maybe you should try to get onto 'countryripple' - entry on engagement rings on this thread was really informative- sounds like someone who could help you. We recently got engaged and are about to buy wedding rings but the impression i get is that 18 carat white gold is better than Platinum because Platinum is heavy and gets dull..although i am not an expert we have been advised by a few jewellers to avoid Platinum..anyhow- try the link above - good luck!:):)

kmick

All metals will scratch and if you had a white gold ring you would be even more pissed because that will wear down to the metal below (it look terrible) in about 12 months. If you go back to the jeweller where you bought the ring they will polish it for free (or for a small fee if they are poor jewellers) which will return it to the former shine for a few weeks. Repeat as desired.

The reason that jewellers push white gold is that it has to get re-surfaced every 6-12 months hence making them return business of about 50 euro each time. Its a scam. All the people who got married around the same time as us got white gold and wish they had got platinum now.

joxerdaly

Thanks for your advice. I will definatly go back to the jeweller and get him to polish it but the scratches seem so deep i'm not sure it will be back to its former self. If white gold needs to be resurfaced every 6 - 12 months I'm certainly glad I didn't go down that route. I was under the impression that platium was a very hard wearing metal. Not so I now fear. I will be interested to see if he does charge me for polishing it up.

keyes

joxer,

platinum certainly shouldn't be totally scratched in a few weeks- just how bad is it? if it's a few little scratches, then that's normal enough. In a little while it'll form a patina, a soft warmer look caused by dispersion and reflection of light from many different angles. this gives the metal a much nicer look. when there's just one or two isolated scratches, then it can look worse. are the scratches deep? you mention some chipping? that's certainly not normal.

there's no such thing as a metal that stays shiny forever, forget about that. it's like giving out because your car got dirty; but i'm not sure that that's the problem in this case, a few weeks is definately too short a period of time for any ring to be scratched, regardless of whether it's white or plat.

platinum is harder wearing than gold, but to be honest, the difference in hardness in the two metals is not as much as you may believe. if you are doing something to the ring that scratches it, then it'll scratch whether it's gold or platinum. i'd never push one metal over the other, they both have pros and cons. best thing is to do a few google searches. this is a slightly technical page, but it's good;

http://users.lmi.net/drewid/PWR_Platinum_vs_White_Gold.htm

there are lots of other pages out there, just go looking.

i'd say take it back to the shop, explain the problem. they should be able to tell you if it's normal or not, or whether it was a single event that caused it. they can polish it up to be as shiney as new again if you really want. most shops are happy to look after it, and like kmick said, they're unlikely to charge after such a short period of time.

as to the nature and purpose of rhodium plating, it's a thin coating of a very white metal, put on both white gold and platinum. white gold it not just yellow gold with a thin coating, it's mixed with a whitener when molten, and it white all the way through. with normal living, the whitener lifts off after a few years, giving the white gold a hint of yellow. (just a hint, not very strong.). how long the whitener lasts and how yellow it goes depends on the individual batch of white gold. it's done on platinum as the true colour of platinum is a muted grey.

now, there are some people who just take yellow gold and coat it; that's not professional, and i've no time for that sort of carry-on!!

though to kmick

kmick wrote: »

The reason that jewellers push white gold is that it has to get re-surfaced every 6-12 months hence making them return business of about 50 euro each time. Its a scam.

that's just not true. rhodium plating a ring is seriously expensive; the metal is a ridiculous price. at 50 quid the shop is more or less doing it at cost, if they're putting on a proper coating.

Cateym

kmick wrote: »

All metals will scratch and if you had a white gold ring you would be even more pissed because that will wear down to the metal below (it look terrible) in about 12 months. If you go back to the jeweller where you bought the ring they will polish it for free (or for a small fee if they are poor jewellers) which will return it to the former shine for a few weeks. Repeat as desired.

The reason that jewellers push white gold is that it has to get re-surfaced every 6-12 months hence making them return business of about 50 euro each time. Its a scam. All the people who got married around the same time as us got white gold and wish they had got platinum now.

€50 is very expensive. I have seen it for €25......

keyes

Cateym wrote: »

€50 is very expensive. I have seen it for €25......

it depends on the type of plating done, it's not always the same.

Cateym

That price was from a reputable, well-known jewellers.

Grawns

My BF and I have just ordered our rings and went for 14k white gold. Same price as 18? but doesn't need to be dipped, ( my sis has an 18k white rings and it's a nightmare, they go black and she has to pay whatever twice a year.)

My engagement ring is a family ring from his grandmother so it's more than 40 years old white gold and in near perfect condition.

I would bring your ring to a reputable jeweller ( not in the same town) for an impartial opinion. I would imagine you have some comeback if the quality is found to be below standard.

keyes

Grawns wrote: »

My BF and I have just ordered our rings and went for 14k white gold. Same price as 18? but doesn't need to be dipped, ( my sis has an 18k white rings and it's a nightmare, they go black and she has to pay whatever twice a year.)

My engagement ring is a family ring from his grandmother so it's more than 40 years old white gold and in near perfect condition.

I would bring your ring to a reputable jeweller ( not in the same town) for an impartial opinion. I would imagine you have some comeback if the quality is found to be below standard.

lots more to talk about there, though somewhat off topic...

the issue of blackening is not really a 14kt versus 18kt issue. it's more to do with (a) something the wearer is doing, albeit unwittingly, and (b) the particular batch of gold.

14 kt is 58% gold, just under 42% alloy, 18kt is 75% gold, 25% alloy. gold is yellow, obviously. the alloy is a combination of several metals, one of which whitens the gold. it's how much of this, the homogenity of it, etc., that helps the metal stay white. over a good number of years, it'll lift away, as gold is unreactive, but the alloys are not necessarily unreactive. but all this can cause is a slight yellowing of the metal, absolutely not tarnishing. tarnishing is a totally separate issue.

often, older rings have different alloy content, so the whitener lifts off at a slower rate. this is very common. compare a white gold ring from the 1930s with a new one, and the new one will yellow much much quicker.

if you're doing something to your ring that'll scratch it, is matters little whether it's 14kt or 18kt. what matters is the thing beyond your control, the composition of the metal. this happens at the refiners, so its not in the power of the goldsmith either. it's not like you can request "extra whitener".

i'm suprised at a ring going black every 6 months. that's really really unusual; there's definately an issue with something there.

also, 14kt in ireland? open to correction on this, but i don't think that that's a legal standard?

finally, on the same subject, the only people who can say that the ring is "below standard" is the assay office in dublin. they are the only people entitled to comment on the quality (ie the %age composition) of a metal. it's quick and cheap to have them test the ring, but if it already has a hallmark then it'll pass the test.

and finally finally, cateym; prices can vary for plating because it's not always the same thing being done - i don't disagree with you, i think we're just getting our wires crossed

Grawns

All very interesting but I'm beginning to wish I got 9K. From what's been said I guess it will last longer and look better than platnium, 18k or 14k.

Am buying from workshop so I guess they can do 14k, they didn't say any different.

As an expert Keyes (and I'm not being sarcastic) What would you recommned that people get who want white coloured rings that will be sturdy and retain their colour?

iguana

Grawns wrote: »

As an expert Keyes (and I'm not being sarcastic) What would you recommned that people get who want white coloured rings that will be sturdy and retain their colour?

I'm not an expert but I always thought I wanted a white gold ring until I read up on white gold. I had assumed, like I think most people do, that white gold is a type of gold which is silver in appearance. As it's actually just bleached and plated yellow gold it can't ever maintain it's colour because the colour you buy isn't it's clour, iyswim.

I chose platinum (100% recycled because I'm a bit of a hippy and platinum mining devastates it's surroundings) but was aware that the shine on platinum isn't it's natural state and it does dull with wear. Though it can be re-shined easily and it doesn't lose much mass over a lifetime in the same way that gold and silver rings can. I don't think there is any metal that will retain the super-shineyness that it has when purchased.

keyes

iguana wrote: »

I'm not an expert but I always thought I wanted a white gold ring until I read up on white gold. I had assumed, like I think most people do, that white gold is a type of gold which is silver in appearance. As it's actually just bleached and plated yellow gold it can't ever maintain it's colour because the colour you buy isn't it's clour, iyswim.

I chose platinum...... I don't think there is any metal that will retain the super-shineyness that it has when purchased.

yep, i'd agree with that.

often, the problem is unrealistic expectations on the part of the wearer. it's like complaining that you bought a car a year ago and it's not as shiney as when you drove it out of the showroom. for something to stay pristine, it needs maintenance. there is NOTHING that can be worn all the time and not take the odd knock.

grawns, not 9kt, it's really not all that suitable.

most of this is answered by fey in his sticky post at the top of this forum, plus there's loads of great info out there on the net.