18ct white gold help

[jimp]

hi, "her indoors" has a tiffany 18ct white gold watch, (diamonds on it) the side of the case has marks on it, i belive white gold is plated yellow gold, im no gold expert, is there an easy fix?
cheers, jim

[blackie]

Think its a replate if I'm not mistaken

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

[mtagrant]

Some white gold is effectively plating something underneath - I believe rhodium plating? This can be refreshed pretty easily.

Other white gold such as on Rolex models is not a plating

[Kingstepper]

Some white gold is effectively plating something underneath - I believe rhodium plating? This can be refreshed pretty easily.

Other white gold such as on Rolex models is not a plating

Usually white gold itself (not yellow).

[mtagrant]

Usually white gold itself (not yellow).

Yes good point - I think I recall the finish of some white gold requires additional plating to get the right effect (shiny gold!)

[DMC102]

White gold is an alloy of gold and a white metal. It's a dullish grey colour in its untreated state, and usually plated with rhodium to give it its shine.

The rhodium coating gets scratched and wears over time, losing the shiny finish, so white gold items are often re-plated.

I take my white gold ring to a local jeweller to be re-plated every couple of years or so. It comes back looking almost like new.

[Kingstepper]

Never seen the point of plated white gold, might as well be plated brass.

[lew07]

Never seen the point of plated white gold, might as well be plated brass.

Agreed .My mate has a white gold wedding ring.I said don’t worry if You ever lose it .Il make You a stainless steel one on the lathe.Apart from the engraving Your Mrs will never know lol

[Griswold]

White gold is an alloy of gold and a white metal. It's a dullish grey colour in its untreated state, and usually plated with rhodium to give it its shine.

The rhodium coating gets scratched and wears over time, losing the shiny finish, so white gold items are often re-plated.

I take my white gold ring to a local jeweller to be re-plated every couple of years or so. It comes back looking almost like new.

Lynn and I have matching white gold wedding rings. Mine is shiny, but does have a very faint goldish tinge and some of the pattern is worn, hers on the other hand still has its full shine; we've been married 49 years. Her white gold engagement ring still retains it's original finish too and that's 53 years old!

[DMC102]

Lynn and I have matching white gold wedding rings. Mine is shiny, but does have a very faint goldish tinge and some of the pattern is worn, hers on the other hand still has its full shine; we've been married 49 years. Her white gold engagement ring still retains it's original finish too and that's 53 years old!

Interesting - that's not been my experience with WG at all, more's the pity!

Do yours have any markings other than the purity? Mine only says 750 (i.e. 18ct).

[Brighty]

Wife has a few bits of white gold jewellery, gets them replated occasionally.
Her wedding ring is platinum, I went with Tungsten Carbide for my wedding ring, stays shiny forever and has the bonus of only costing £20

[Griswold]

Interesting - that's not been my experience with WG at all, more's the pity!

Do yours have any markings other than the purity? Mine only says 750 (i.e. 18ct).

Mine is hallmarked as follows: - S&W, then a crown, followed by 18, then a shield with lion's face and finally an italicised letter P.

S&W is the maker, (probably Stower & Wragg Ltd of Sheffield), the crown followed by 18 means 18 Carat assayed before 1975, the lion means the London Assay Office and the italic P means made in 1970.

HTH

[DMC102]

Mine is hallmarked as follows: - S&W, then a crown, followed by 18, then a shield with lion's face and finally an italicised letter P.

S&W is the maker, (probably Stower & Wragg Ltd of Sheffield), the crown followed by 18 means 18 Carat assayed before 1975, the lion means the London Assay Office and the italic P means made in 1970.

HTH

Thanks. No clue as to any difference between yours and mine, then.

[Griswold]

Thanks. No clue as to any difference between yours and mine, then.

Only thing I can think of is they used a different blend of alloys with gold to create the old style white gold than the new.

There doesn't appear to be a separate hallmark for white gold as opposed to gold.

https://theassayoffice.com/anatomy-of-a-hallmark

[colin t]

Only thing I can think of is they used a different blend of alloys with gold to create the old style white gold than the new.

There doesn't appear to be a separate hallmark for white gold as opposed to gold.

https://theassayoffice.com/anatomy-of-a-hallmark

It’s unlikely that the 1970 rings were ever rhodium plated, hence it’s easier for the jewellery to retain its original finish as there is no plating to wear or discolour. I much prefer white gold items this way, they might not be the whitest, shiniest thing to start with, but they are shiny enough and retain their looks well.

Once a ring is plated you’re trapped in the cycle of having it refreshed every few years, and you never really get to enjoy the white gold underneath.