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Metal for rings- difference?

Lillylilly

This may sound like a silly question, but what is the difference in platinum, white gold, silver and palladium?
I love silver, and wear it a lot. My engagement and wedding ring will be something in shade, but I just wonder what the differences are in relation to price, durability, wear and tear etc. I understand that white gold scratches easily (or so I've been told), so am wondering in 20 years time, what will look best?

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aviendha

I am not a metal expert, but I did a lot of research before we bought my engagement ring on the different metals and spoke with jewellers in Dublin and Antwerp.

In my naiivite, I had been sold on the retailers spiel on "platinum is best" - they didn't very good backup as to why, just same old line "it's the best" just because it was more expensive than white gold.

I wanted something very hard wearing as I'm the kind of klutz who keeps knocking into things and I wanted to be sure I didn't have a ring that was destroyed in scratches after 6 months.

I was surprised then to find that in fact, white gold is considered far more durable than platinum. Platinum dents very easily, and needs to be buffed up to keep it's shape and shine. White gold is far sturdier, but will need to be rhodium plated to keep it shiny (as over time, depending on the quality of the plating and the gold underneath, it will eventually start to go a little yellow - especially on the underside of the ring).

Interestingly enough, Jewellers who work the metal are very much on the side of white gold being a superior ring metal than platinum, and see the platinum spiel as very much a marketing ploy.. having said that, so is the whole diamond tradition for an engagement ring!!

I went with white gold in the end, and have had my ring 1.5 years and still no yellow showing. It is also far easier to resize white gold in the future if needs be.

I have no information on palladium rings so afraid can't offer any help there.

best of luck!:)

ps: you can get your ring rhodium plated in a jewellery repair shop in Dublin for 18euro so won't break the bank if you do want it shined up, or you can get it as part of your deal with the jewellers shop that if you buy your ring there, that they might maintain it for free in the future.

dub0605

When I orginally started looking at engagement rings I was looking at white gold. They were cheaper and more of a selection I thought. We ended up getting my ring made by a family member who recommended platinum to us, it cost the same for him to buy as it would if he was buying white gold. He said its more hard wearing and doesnt need to be redipped like white gold does. So I went for the platinum. After a year and a half yes there is scratches on the underneath from wearing it every day but otherwise its perfect. When I polish it up the sparkle of it is amazing. I keep meaning to get the scratches buffed out but havent had a chance.

A friend of mine got a white gold ring and ended up going to my guy and getting it reset in platinum and shes delighted she did. The ring looks even more beautiful now

I was told by one jeweller that platinum was best, another said white gold was best. I got my wedding band from someone who actually makes the rings and he said they are much the same really. Yellow gold is by far the most durable. My husband got white gold and i got platinum rings, mine seems to be wearing better but thats just 1 experience really.

aviendha

it really depends on the jeweller you ask I suppose!

I have 2 friends with platinum rings and I think they dull and lose their sheen very quickly, and remind me of cutlery stainless steel. To shine them up, you have to go to a jeweller to professionally polish them up, which is much the same as having to go get white gold replated.
essentially, both types of metal need to be maintained on a regular basis.

They have also had to get them buffed up as they scratched very easily, so I'm glad I went with WG myself. But each to their own.

Although I'm not sure how a ring would be more beautiful by being in platinum than WG - both same colour to my eye, but as I said, I'm not an expert!

Acoshla

I don't know about the other types OP but just on the subject of platinum and how well it lasts, I have my grandmother's platinum engagement ring which is at least 30 years old and it is shiny, perfect and with no noticeable scratches or dents. I'm sure it has some but nothing that you would ever notice. I had it cleaned a few years ago and although it's not worn all the time now it was worn for years and survived very well, so although some people think it's a marketing ploy and I agree it is expensive, it does last well.

seamus

aviendha wrote: »

I was surprised then to find that in fact, white gold is considered far more durable than platinum. Platinum dents very easily, and needs to be buffed up to keep it's shape and shine. White gold is far sturdier

Em...where did you get this information? White gold is created by mixing pure (yellow) gold with another metal. This improves its strength in general, but whether it's inherently stronger than platinum would be debateable and is strongly dependent on what other metals have been mixed in.
Rhodium is very tough and hard-wearing, which is why it's often plated onto the gold ring - the gold ring left bare will scratch relatively easily.

Palladium is very tough and practically the same as platinum in terms of toughness. It's much cheaper than platinum and very light. In fact it was the lightness which put me off - platinum feels much more solid in your hand.

The general advice I heard and read all over the place, was that platinum (or palladium) was the best for people who would be at risk of damaging their ring - i.e. people who do a lot of manual work or hobbies, but gold is easier to work with for more intricate pieces (e.g. embedded diamonds) and is easier to resize in future.

I can't comment on the shinyness of platinum - I intentionally got one which wasn't shiny.

aviendha

seamus wrote: »

Em...where did you get this information? White gold is created by mixing pure (yellow) gold with another metal. This improves its strength in general, but whether it's inherently stronger than platinum would be debateable and is strongly dependent on what other metals have been mixed in.
Rhodium is very tough and hard-wearing, which is why it's often plated onto the gold ring - the gold ring left bare will scratch relatively easily.

apologies, I should have been clearer, white gold as rhodium plated would be considered harder wearing... I understand the makeup of white gold, and agree that gold on its own will scratch easily enough, but (and I'm open to correction) I've never heard of a white-gold ring NOT plated to some extent?

Alliandre

My ring is white gold and it's already lost some of it's shine (after 10 months), but it doesn't bother me that much.

dub0605

aviendha wrote: »

Although I'm not sure how a ring would be more beautiful by being in platinum than WG - both same colour to my eye, but as I said, I'm not an expert!

Yes the rings were the same colour but altho they were the same setting etc the ring just looked better in the platium, not sure how or why but it did.

My preference would be platium and I am delighted I went with it over white gold.

At the end of the day its personal preference and once you love the ring and its right for you who cares what its made from

seamus

aviendha wrote: »

I've never heard of a white-gold ring NOT plated to some extent?

I'm sure it's possible, the issue is that gold oxidises, rhodium doesn't (or least not as readily afaik) and it adds massive strength to the ring, so not having the ring plated is ill-advised.

It's a cosmetic treatment which I find a little odd - why would you buy gold if you're going to plate it? Why not buy a ring made from iron and rhodium-plate it? Who would know the difference?

Maybe that's just me.

hunnymonster

<directs seamus in the direction of a little light reading on the electrochemical series.>

my rings are platinum. My husband (and I'm still amazed at his attention to detail), knew I did my phd research on the platinum series of metals and thought it would be a nice idea. The rings have gotten quite dull, quite quickly but of all the outdoor stuff we do, they have gotten quite a bit of abuse (they were up Mont Blanc last week!).

Lillylilly

Thanks for all the responses.

Whats the verdict on silver? Pros and Cons!!