Written by S. Thompson | Posted in Jewelry |

White Jewellery

White gold jewellery has now become much more popular than your yellow gold jewellery. The problem has always been that white gold has a slight tinge of yellow. Even though it is a alloyed with other metals to make it as white as possible, that slight tinge of yellow still affects the overall look of the metal.

The popular solution to this type of  dilemma has always been to rhodium plate the gold with a thin layer of platinum. What this does is make the gold look totally white. The planting is typically a few microns thick. The problem with this solution is that over time the thin plating will wear away revealing the dull yellow look of pure white gold. So women frequently have to get their white gold jewelry rhodium plated at high cost repeatedly. Rhodium plating gold jewelery is a high-cost operation. The price of rhodium solution is extremely high and therefore it is not cost effective for women to plate their white gold jewelery very often.

Women will only want to rhodium plate their more expensive white gold jewelery. For instance, cheap white gold earrings costing less than $100 would not warrant being rhodium plated because the cost to rhodium plate them would run in the $25 range. It is more cost effective for women to rhodium plate a wedding ring like an engagement ring or a wedding band. This type of white gold jewellery is much more expensive. Not only that, these pieces also be more sentimental and worn on a daily basis. Therefore it would be much more worth it to rhodium plate these type of gold jewelery pieces.

The only other alternative to white gold are other metals that have just come of age in the jewelery market. Metals like titanium, sterling silver, and Palladium have become extremely popular for this reason. Titanium and Palladium will retain their whiteness. You will never have to worry about rhodium plating being rubbed off or worn off through use if your jewelery is made up of these metals.

Sterling Silver is also rhodium plated to improve its whiteness. Although raw sterling silver does not have the yellow dinginess of white gold it does have a off-white color that is actually considered attractive among hard-core collectors of vintage silver jewelery. Gold fashion jewellery will continue to be rhodium plated as long as women have a penchant for gold jewellery.

Popularity: 1%