Rhodium Plating on platinum rings.

fififofum

Hello!

I am now looking at engagement rings!! After a very bad start wherby I ordered a ring 14 weeks ago from a jewller recommended to me to having to get full refund today :mad:

Still long story short I really like the look of a Platinum ring from Lunns (Belfast, Northern Ireland). I have been told that they Rhodium Plate their platinum rings to make them extra shiny.

What does this all mean?? I have only just got my head round the whole carat/clarity/cut/ideas.

heather38

i have a white gold ring and it's rhodium plated.
all it means is that you will have the ring replated every year or so to bring on the shine.

fififofum

thankyou heather38! Does it cost a lot to get it replated?

iwanttosave_2

A guy on my market charges £7.50 for it. I am planning on getting mine done as my OH got my ring in yellow gold and I don't like yellow gold.

pavlovs_dog

they add rhodium plating to white gold in particular. it helps give it the white colour. it can and will wear over time... with white gold you can tell because the ring stats to look yellow-y. thats the normal yello gold poking through underneath. not sure how it would go on a platinum ring though :think:

heather38

i have mine done at ernest jones and they charge me £20 for both my engagement and wedding rings, but this includes having the diamond cleaned as well.

fififofum

thankyou all, i feel ok to go ahead with it now. am off on holiday next week and will be ordering when we get back!

pboae

My white gold rings don't go yellow, they just stopsbeing shiny. I don't usually bother getting them replated though, they still look nice, they just don't shine like they do when they are brand new. But then 'normal' yellow gold loses it's initial sparkle and shine too, and that isn't plated.

TomsMom

Same as pboae. I have had my white gold wedding ring for 39 years and my engagement ring has platinum shoulders and I've had that for 41 years. In all that time I have only had them professionally cleaned twice (when valued for insurance purposes). Yes they come up nice and shiny when they've been rhodium plated, but in the meantime they just loose their shine, the white gold has never, in all that time, had yellow showing through.

You can always clean them yourselves regularly with a good jewellery cleaner, the Dave Bradford one is not chemical, and polishing cloth, it's amazing how mucky they get from every day wear, even just washing your hands will leave a soap film that eventually builds up, then there's hair shampoo and conditioner etc.

will1974

I work for a high street jewellers. White Gold is basically yellow gold mixed with silver and palladium and then dipped in rodium to give it a white apperance, it is not a pure metal, after a period of time, it varies amongst people, some 6 months, some 5 years!! it will start to tarnish and look a bronze colour, this is when you would get it re-rodium plated, it takes 2 weeks and costs 13.99.
Platinum is a pure metal, a noble metel that never diminshes or tarnishes in colour or appearance, it would not need to be rodium plated, it can be polished and buffed in store in an hour to make it look shiny again.
Hope this helps.

sleepymy

I got my platinum engagement and wedding rings out of Ellisons on Donegal St, if you know someone with a card for them you'll save a fair amount of money or get something of far better quality for the same money. I personally wouldn't go near Lunns as I've seen the exact same items in Ellisons for far less.

My rings weren't rodium plated (never heard of it being done on platinum) and I just give them a gentle clean every now and again with a soft toothbrush and washing up liquid, brings them up a treat.

Good luck with the ring search and congratulations on your engagement :beer: