QuestionHi, I can't decide between a wedding band and solitaire engagement ring in Palladium (touted as the greatest thing since sliced bread) or white gold. I definitely don't want Platinum because I don't want that dulling/patina. Some jewelers say Palladium is longer wearing than white gold (so won't scratch as fast), and others say the opposite. Who's right? I just want my metal to be shiny longer!
Also, if white gold is the better choice, 14 or 18K? I'm less concerned with re-rhodium plating--more worried about the ring bending/ warping over time if it's too soft, or the diamond's prongs wearing out faster. What's the best overall choice for both practicality as well as a sense of quality and value to the metal?
One final questions please: can a 2-tone gold band be re-rhodium plated just for the white part without covering the yellow gold? Thanks so much.
AnswerRania, I thank you for these questions. I imagine others have wondered the same and still may not have an answer.
I will answer your final question first, wondering if a two tone band may be rhodium plated only on the white areas. The answer to that is a certain yes. We do this all the time. All that is needed is to mask off or cover the yellow areas so the rhodium solution does not touch the yellow metal. The most basic and very effective method to mask off the yellow is to paint it with red finger nail polish. The red makes the painted area easy to see and we can paint with fine control. When the rhodium plate work is done, the item is placed in acetone. (This is the main ingredient in older forms of nail polish remover.) In a moment the red is dissolved away and the two tone jewelry has nice yellow as it should and the white has a bright white rhodium plate.
Palladium has been marketed by some as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Rania, I will still take my whole wheat and peanut butter and likely pass on the palladium. Why? Yes, this is a fine metal for jewelry. Unfortunately, I believe the manufacturers got the cart before the horse when palladium was revived a few years ago. For a while, many makers could not do a decent job of casting palladium and some items we got had inferior metal even from normally high end manufacturers. You see, the same methods used for gold did not work and the standard methods used for platinum did not work. Whew..in defense of those who make fine jewelry in palladium, most have worked out the problems and now produce a fine product.
Why touted so very much? Well, the metal like its sister Platinum is not going to cause any skin sensitivity reactions like some ladies have with certain sorts of white gold. Stones set securely in palladium and the metal is attractive, even if of a different sort of white than we are used to seeing in gold. But, I believe the primary reason at first was the rising platinum market, meaning prices for the metal. An alternative was needed and palladium was it. The metal was used many years ago but that trend did not last very long. Now, the metal has been improved in jewelry composition and with manufacturing methods.
Shine? I would stick with 18k white gold. The high karat holds a nice white color and in some brands does not need rhodium plate to be quite white. Funny, in years past we had white gold but no one really worried about making it whiter with rhodium. Today, that is the "thing to do". Well, all white gold does not need special treatment because of the metal in the first place. White gold made with palladium is a good choice. White gold such as the X1 by Stuller Findings or the Precise White by W.R. Cobb are about as white as you will get in white gold, not palladium as a primary ingredient in the metal recipe but very respected gold alloys.
You need not look for a special white gold, not really. I do like the palladium white gold, meaning it is made with palladium instead of nickel to get the white color but some folks see it as too bluish in a way. I believe from my experience at the jeweler's bench that a good 14k or 18k white will keep the shine longer than either palladium or platinum.
18k is recognized internationally as a higher end jewelry metal. It is practical and certainly has a sense of value.
I do hope my opinions will assist you. Someone else will disagree with what I say but I base my thoughts on my actual work with the metals, all of them.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
