QuestionI have 2 yellow gold rings set with diamonds. they were bought at different stores at different times. Recently i had them soldered together to stop them from slipping around my finger when i wore them. 3 weeks ago i spent the day at a Hot Springs pool with a high sulfur content. I know not to wear anything silver in this environment because of the tarnishing, but i thought my Gold jewelry was safe. I woke up the other morning to find BOTH my rings white gold in color! What happened? Can this be reversed? My necklace was unaffected as were my husbands gold wedding band and class ring.
AnswerDear Sukie,
Gold can very much be affected by chemical exposure. Chlorine is perhaps the most damaging to karat gold alloys while sulfur generally may discolor but not permanently damage. Yes, silver certainly is quickly tarnished by sulfur and by sulfur fumes from various things in the environment like rubber bands, brown paper bags, dirty air and mineral water to name a few.
Pure gold will not react to these chemicals but jewelry gold is not pure, containing silver, copper and traces of other metals to produce a metal mix suitable in strength and color for jewelry use.
Jewelry gold certainly may be discolored by exposure to certain chemicals.
Just why the other jewelry was not affected is something I cannot investigate or comment about without knowing the compositions of each piece of jewelry. Suffice to say, some gold alloys will react more readily to chemical exposure than others.
White is an unusual reaction and a little of a puzzle. I wonder what in mineral content IS in the water? Overall, the discoloration should be rather easily removed by a professional polishing. If caused by the mineral springs, the color is only surface reaction and should buff away fairly easily, restoring the yellow color to your rings.
Best Wishes and God Bless. Thomas.
