could someone qualified comment on this...

....cause it sounds like a lot of crap.

http://www.jewellerywebshop.co.uk/pl...gold_rings.htm

On Mon, 23 May 2005 07:32:15 -0700, in ?? "m4816k" wrote:

...cause it sounds like a lot of crap.

http://www.jewellerywebshop.co.uk/pl...gold_rings.htm



Um. yeah. Not totally crap, but there's a lot there I'd argue with.

For one thing, most of the palladium white golds i've worked with seem to have
WORSE color than the nickle white golds, appearing not so much yellowish, but a
somewhat darker almost brownish tone. The very whitest of the white golds are
high nickle content alloys that, at their best, don't require rhodium at all, just
as platinum itself does not generally need rhodium, at least not for the color.
The nickle white golds are a LOT harder than the palladium based ones, and are
indeed sometimes more prone to cracking. But the page accuses platinum of this,
not white gold. And that's just crazy. Platinum's big failing is usually that it
can be a bit too soft sometimes, not that it's brittle or cracks. It bends, or
over time gets mashed down some, "mushrooming" over on details. White golds, by
contrast, generally don't do that, but they DO wear away a lot faster.

And the bit about platinum needing to be polished, thus removing metal, in order
to restore rhodium, is nuts, since platinum work generally does not need rhodium
in the first place, except perhaps to cover inept solder seams. It MAY be
rhodiumed, to increase surface hardness, but does not need it. Restoring the
rhodium does indeed need polishing, but repolishing platinum, while taking longer
and needing more labor than repolishing white gold for the same purpose, does not
remove any greater amount of metal. Much more white gold work is rhodium plated,
than is platinum.

The bottom line for me is the blanket natuer of the statements. Some jewelry is
better suited to white gold, and other designs are better in platinum. And
amongst white golds, there are MANY variations on the alloys, each with strengths
and failings. The biggest differences between palladium white golds is that by
eliminating nickle, it eliminates potential causes of metal allergy. The
palladium alloys are indeed more costly, and are also less prone to some types of
corrosion problems. Their failings generally are poorer color than the better
nickle alloys, and they are often softer, which may be an advantage for stone
setters, but not always for the durability of some designs. Again, it cannot be
described in such a broad blanket statement which is better. Some are better in
palladium white gold, some better in nickle white gold, and some clearly deserve
platinum.

Just my two cents.

Peter Rowe

m4816k wrote:
...cause it sounds like a lot of crap.

http://www.jewellerywebshop.co.uk/pl...gold_rings.htm




Well, it's crap all right, but not all of it. They do make some valid
points, and are rather uneducated as far as platinum is concerned.

In short, they simply do not (fully) know what they are talking about.

Rhodiated? Now that's a new word for me.

BTW, I'm sure peter will give you a more compl;ete and satisfying answer
to your question.

And the short of it is, it's not all crap, just (as you say), a lot of it.

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

Peter W.. Rowe, wrote:



Um. yeah. Not totally crap, but there's a lot there I'd argue with.

For one thing, most of the palladium white golds i've worked with seem to have
WORSE color than the nickle white golds, appearing not so much yellowish, but a
somewhat darker almost brownish tone. The very whitest of the white golds are
high nickle content alloys that, at their best, don't require rhodium at all, just
as platinum itself does not generally need rhodium, at least not for the color.
The nickle white golds are a LOT harder than the palladium based ones, and are
indeed sometimes more prone to cracking. But the page accuses platinum of this,
not white gold. And that's just crazy.

No, not always. Platinum castings can at times show hairline cracks
when poorly cast. And from what this jeweler says, I'm sure he would
sell prefab platinum cast jewelry, because he clearly does not seem to
know how to work platinum. Which btw, is another reason platinum work
is so much more expensive. It takes a highly trained craftsman who
knows how to work Pt.



--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com