palldium vs white gold and whats the deal with redipping?

It is the nature of white gold to turn a slight yellow tinge with time. The higher the quality of the gold the less often it will have to be "dipped". The harder you are on your jewelry, the quicker it will start to turn yellow.

None of my white gold jewlery has turned yellow... so I don't know how it would. Our jeweler suggested this too but I wasn't ok with sending my engagement ring away to get dipped. I'm way to attached to it. LOL

Gold isn't meant to be white, white gold is just yellow gold dipped. So it is perfectly natural for it to begin to yellow after a while. Like Lisa above said, if you are harder on your jewelery it will yellow quicker. I actually just got my ring redipped after 2 years because my wedding is coming up and I want it to look brand new! THe only part you could see it yellowing is on the bottom, and that's only if you looked really closely. I actually think it is a good thing, because there is nothing you can do with other metals like platinum once they start to fade or tarnish, and they will no matter how strong. A lot of good jewelers will work with you about redipping like including the first one. Ask about it!

My engagement ring is palladium, but the jeweler that is custom making my wedding band talked me into getting X-1 white gold. He said that the palladium will loose its luster faster. He explained to me other advantages of getting the white gold, which unfortunately I don't exactly remember, but I was set on getting palladium when I went in there until he explained everything to me. I do know that the X-1 white gold is a different kind of white gold though, so maybe not all white gold would be a better choice over palladium and it even cost more than the palladium.

White gold is white because of rhodium plating, its not naturally that color, unlike platinum, silver or palladium. To keep white gold rings looking just like new, they need to be re-dipped or plated every few years, or it will wear off and look more yellow.

Palladium is a metal that has not been popular recently, but is starting to make a come-back and you see it more commonly now because of the increase in price of gold and platinum.

It will look slightly different than white gold. Its a bit paler in color, but very similar. The ring itself will also feel lighter than a gold counterpart.

My parents have bands with what was white gold decoration--it wore of completely after 10 years. I also have a white gold ring that has needed it once after 5 years because I like it shiny and it tends to dull a bit after time.

If I was ordering custom bands, I would have gone with palladium and my jeweler recommends it to women who don't have the idea that they "have" to have a specific metal.

I just remembered I think one of the differences in the X-1 is that it either doesn't have rhodium or something so it does not have to be replated?? something like that

Thanks ladies for the help and explanations!

Actually the higher quality the gold the MORE often it will have to be dipped, because there is more gold and less base metal. All gold is naturally yellow. "White" gold is yellow gold mixed with white base metals and coated in Rhodium. Wear and tear degrades that rhodium finish and the ring needs to be re-plated. 24K gold is considered "pure" gold. So 14K is a representation of the percentage of actual gold in the ring. Since 14K gold has more gold than 10K gold a 14k gold ring is going to need to be dipped more often because it has more yellow in it.

I worked in jewelry and heard varied responses on Palladium. I have heard from different jewelers that it can be a difficult metal to work with causing difficulty with repairs. Overall I prefer white gold as it can be made to look new over and over again using the rhodium plating process.

White gold isn't yellow gold that's dipped in rhodium. White gold is yellow gold mixed with things like zinc, & nickle (not enough for a reaction) & other things to give it a white appearance. Mine only starts to turn a little in the palm of my hand part of the ring. The top near the diamond stays white, I'm only getting it plated for the wedding (ya know those close up hand shots). Haha. Palladium is a derivative of the platinum family & can be more expensive. (That's the knowledge off the top of my head. Been doing the jewelry thing for almost 3 years.)

Here's wikipedia:

Palladium, along with platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group of elements referred to as the platinum group metals. Better yet, the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium

White gold: White gold is an alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel or palladium. Like yellow gold, the purity of white gold is given in carats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_gold#White_gold

I only wear white gold, my E ring is white gold dipped in palldium. the jeweler told us the palldium is a harder metal but is qu

Shoot, silly computer! its quite a bit more, it also has more of a shine than white gold. white gold after wearing does get a SLIGHT yellowish tent to it. my promise ring is white gold and i have had it for 2-3 years and it has just started getting to the point that its "icky". my E ring came with a lifetime free dipping so its not a huge thing. so...my opinion is white gold dipped becasue it saves you $ it still looks GREAT coating lasts quite a while(jeweler recommended once a year).

Thank you Charlotte! I was waiting for someone to respond correctly lol.

My ring is 14k White Gold and I haven't had any problems with it yet. When I take it in for the 'every six months' check-up. They inspect it, clean it, and do a rhodium dip. Looks brand spankin' new.

My mom and grandma had some 14k white gold and they aren't showing any yellow either. I guess it just depends on what you do with it. The metals that it's alloyed with sometimes react to chemicals such as hair spray, perfumes, cosmetics, household cleaners, etc. So if you take it off when you shower/clean, and keep it off (or in the jewelry cleaner) while you do your hair/make up, it should be looking gorgeous, always =)

@Beth, just an FYI, platinum can be buffed to remove any nicks/scratches Just had mine done a couple of weeks ago. You don't want to do it too much because you are in fact removing the weight of the platinum by buffing it.

Ok I didn't read any of these posts before I posted mine so if I'm re-stating things sorry in advance

I used to work for a jeweler so this is my strenth! I'll make it really simple. In order of metal strenth it goes like this: Platinum, Palladium, Gold, Silver. Palladium is actually a Platinum/Gold mixture so it has the 'white' coloring you are looking for and it is surprisingly strong. (My FH's ring is Palladium). White gold is a tricky little substance. No gold that comes out of the ground is naturally white. It has to be "dipped" in what is called a Rhodium Plating. What the Rhodium does is coat it to give it a really bright shiny surface. Depending on the oils and such in your skin, you may have to have it re-plated more often than others. The normal turn around for Rhodium is about one year and it's about $75 a ring to have it plated. Like I said though, yours may be different. Ok so here are the pro's and con's to both. White gold has a 'brighter' white look to it..(cont)

..and does not scratch as easily. Platinum however is just as 'bright' once it's bought, but over time it dulls and scratches. The cool thing about Platinum though is that you can have your jeweler buff it more often than you can buff gold. (I would only recommend twice a year at most). I actually have a Platinum ring and honestly, you really can't tell when it gets dull because of the diamonds! Lol. I definitely would recommend Platinum/Palladium, I think you'd be really happy!

Ask me if you have any other questions, I worked in the jewelry industry for about 3 years, I promise I know what I'm talking about lol.

Palladium is absolutely NOT a mixture of platinum and gold. Palladium is an element, just like platinum, gold, silver (or hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, for that matter). It is a beautiful metal, though I prefer the weight that comes with platinum (palladium is not as dense as platinum).

It depends on what you want your jewelry to look like in the long run - the white gold (especially after being re-rhodiumed) will be shiny and often look quite new. The palladium obtains more of a platinum-like patina (the finish has a texture from all of the tiny scratches and nicks blending together).

Heather-I would have thought that white gold being a softer metal would show more scraches than palladium? Guess Im off on that way!

I think Im going to go in a store and look at a few in person compare, but Im leaning towards Palladium since it will be stronger. And while this pic isnt what my ring will look like exactly, its similar in that because of the tiny little diamonds on the side, you will really only see the metal on the bottom half of the ring.

This page has info one white gold jewelery and also on the X1 gold which does not require a rhodium dip because it does not change color.

http://www.generousgems.com/i/buying-gold-jewelry/

I'm having the same issue.. wondering where I can have mine redipped and how much it'd cost. My ring is from a local store but they are actually not "known" for jewelry, LOL ..i know.. maybe not a great move on DH's part but to his credit my ring is BEAUTIFUL. It is white gold and after wearing it for a yr and a half the shank (bottom) is beginning to yellow a bit. I want to have mine redipped before the wedding in Sept. but I'm not sure if just any jeweler can do it, and how much it would cost. Anyone know the cost?