Wedding Forum - White gold rubbed off :(...

has anyone else had this problem??
my white gold engagment ring has had to be re-dipped in white gold
i noticed a few weeks ago that my ring was going yellow, the white gold had literally rubbed off.
i dont have a clue what caused it as i take it off everytime my hand gets wet eg when i wash up, go swimming, etc
my ring now fits better and is looking like new again lol

ooh no! glad it looks better! Thats a great idea KayteeG!
What sort of prices are you paying to have it re-dipped??x

Kimi1987, mine was the same. I kept taking mine back to the jeweller he got it from (high street), and time and time again, it would rub off.

I've now had it 'micro-plated' (I think that's what he called it?) by a guy who works in Hatton Garden and so far it hasn't rubbed off.

Older white gold rings had nickel in them, which stopped it going yellow, but they don't any more as too many people are allergic to it.

Take your ring to an independent jeweller - see what they say x

Mine was free to re-dip from where it was purchased. To have it micro-plated was £20.

I went and asked our jeweller today and he is doing it for £15.
Tinsel - that sounds good - can you get that done most places? Can't really afford to get it done every couple of years and don't want to just let them go yellow - defeats the object of having white gold rings really lol!

how strange a never thought about it how long have you had yours for?a've had mine since end of december and never take it off

after reading this post.. im now worried that mine will do the same... but i have an issue my is yellow and white gold entwined....could i get the white gold dipped without damaging the gold?

thats reasonable! so will microplating stop it rubbing off?x

ive had mine since october but like i said i take mine off as i cant stand getting my rings wet. the jeweller told me that hes never known it to happen yet obviously it seems like quite a common problem, kinda wish my h2b didnt get me a white gold engagement ring now lol

i need mine doing already lol x

I wear mine every day, but when it started to go yellow, I took it off whenever I washed my hands, showered, etc. I've had mine since Dec '09 and it's been dipped THREE times! Now it's micro-plated, it hasn't changed at all. The jeweller said it was a process with a French-sounding name, but is essentially 'micro-plating' it. He is a family friend, but maybe see what a jeweller has to say x

Ah tinsel - I got engaged december 2009 too! (Xmas day!)
Might ask my jeweller about that next time I'm in town!

Aww bless! I was 8 months pregnant, and he said 'You know how we said when th ebaby gets here our family will be complete, well that's not completely true, our family wont be complete until I can call you my wife!'
To be honest - it was a fairly risky thing to do to a woman in my position!

Your suppose to be advised by your jewler to have your white gold ring "redipped" every 6 months.
I wasnt but i was aware of it tarnishing!
xxx

My ring has free dipping as long as it is done within a year of the last dipping. That's with Ernest Jones.

My mum went in with her ring to say a stone had came out and it was tarnished and she was told she should take it in every 6months and that she was going to be charged to get the stone replaced as it was "forced" out.
She told them to forget it and the woman still had the ring in her hand and wasnt gonna give it back to her!
She wont be going back to that store!
xxx

Ooh tinsel, that's good to know as that's where my wedding ring is from!

As we sell 100's of white gold rings every year I'd like to explain about white gold if I may. I hope this helps to explain the problem.

As somebody above says there is no such thing as white gold but its not just yellow gold plated with rhodium, unless its a really low cost ring.

What happens is that yellow gold is mixed with other metals such as silver, zinc etc to make it whiter. Its like mixing the ingredients for a cake - if you put a lot of cocoa powder in the whole cake becomes browner.

So its not just a surface treatment. However there are different mixes used to produce the white gold. Some of it still looks fairly yellow and some of it (which has Palladium in it) can look very white. But all white gold is plated with Rhodium to make them really beautiful.

If you have a 9 carat white gold ring it won't have Palladium in it and once the rhodium plating wears off the pale yellow colour will start to show through. How long this takes depends on all sorts of things like simple weart and tear or if you are in hot-tubs and swimming pools a lot the chlorine will eat away the Rhodium.

If you have an 18 carat ring there is a good chance it will have palladium in it and therefore will stay much whiter for much longer. All our 18 carat white gold is this type of 'high palladium content' metal and shouldn't need to be replated. However we also guarantee our rings for life and so if they ever do need re-plating or 'dipping' we do it free of charge.

So if you want a white gold ring that doesn't need to be plated every few months our advice is to make sure that your ring is a 'high palladium content' 18 carat ring and if possible get a lifetime guarantee. Also if you buy your wedding rings from us we'll replate your engagement ring for free so it looks great for you wedding. Other jewellers may also offer this service.

There is also an alternative to white gold - pur palladium. This is naturally white and never needs replating. Its from the same family of metal as Platinum and Rhodium but costs less than 18 carat white gold.

Hope that helps ;o)

Just re read smooches post. My ring is 18ct white gold which may explain the not needing it dipped theory!!

Mine is 18ct but it needs dipping as it will look dull next to my wedding ring. I have had it for coming on two years so i'm assuming it's normal for it to need doing around now.

Can anyone explain why one of my rings which is 9ct white gold and wasn't very expensive looks great and really white and my other ring which is also 9ct white gold but was a lot more expensive has more of a yellow tinge to it. It isn't like the platings coming off because the ring is the same colour all the way round. It's my engagement ring and I'm worried now when we try to buy wedding rings I won't be able to find one that matches it. I didn't notice the difference for ages as never put the two rings together. My engagement ring is definitely more a butter colour and my other one is mirror like. Would getting my engagement ring replated make a difference?i haven't had my engagement ring long and it cost a lot of money. Any advice would be great x

Hi Julie,

Barbie86 is right - it depends on the mix of metals and the thickness of the plating.

There are ways to avoid the rings looking different colours. Firstly you should get them replated at the same time - then they'll be identical until they start to show significant signs of wear.

However the best solution would be to have your engagement ring remade using the same stones but with Palladium or Platinum for the metal parts. Then buy a wedding ring in the same metal so they match. We do this all the time for people who've bought 9ct white gold engagement rings and the result is great. It doesn't cost too much either.

Palladium is very inexpensive compared with Platinum and has very similar properties. The key thing is that neither of these metals will ever go yellow.

Palladium is cheaper than 18ct white gold but a little more that 9ct. However its a fantastic metal for rings and will always look great.

Hi ladies hope we are all well :) I work in the jewellery industry so I can help you with this :) gold is naturally yellow so to make white gold what happens (depending on the carat) for example a 9ct is made up of 1000 parts only 375 of this will be yellow gold the rest will be what its alloyed with to get the white look eg some jewellers alloy there's with things like stainless steel or nickel :S some higher grade jewellers (me :)) will alloy it with Palladium. Which will strengthen the ring all dull down the yellow then all white gold is rhodium plated to give it the shine, which generally will need to be refinished every 2-4 years roughly dependant on what you do when it's on your finger e.g. swimming hope this helps :) x