[Jewelry making - Article 00230] - Re: [Orchid] Is rhodium plating a common practice?

[Jewelers Gallery]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========


    daniel,now i don't want to go off on a rant here, but: i do not like
    working with rhodium plated pieces. rhodium plating is not as much
    of an issue for most professional jewelers.it is a nuisance for
    me,but i have no control over what other manufacturers do. i can have
    knowledge of how to handle what might be a challenging situation.
    rhodium can make things more difficult, but not impossible.it does
    have value for certain circumstances. i would not hesitate to rhodium
    a yellow gold pair of earring studs when my customer wants them
    changed to white gold. i tell them, they are fine, and they save
    money. it seems to be that some people take what seems to be a moral
    stand as to what should be right and wrong. what about 14kt gold
    chains that are plated with 18kt, and you have to solder a break and
    it ain't the same color, and the customer asks why? what about the
    lack of disclosure i encounter about the negatives about platinum, a
    far more serious issue for the customer. if the item has multiple
    diamonds and you need to retip, you either have to retip with white
    gold, and have the same problem with white gold, stress fractures and
    attacked by certain chemicals that can compromise its integrity, or
    remove the diamonds, which is expensive. very few of my customers
    were educated as to pros and cons of platinum, especially how soft it
    is and depending on the wearer, can develope what the platinum guild
    calls "patina"(gets all scratched up), and it is three times as
    expensive as white gold. noble metal or noble attitude. and what
    about moissonite, with a distinct yellow body color that is what we
    educate customers is a negative in diamonds apparently is just peachy
    when you pay hundreds of dollars per carat for something that a cz
    will do even if you had to replace the cz occasionally, the price is
    not justified, but thank god for the power of advertising. but that's
    just my $.02. maybe we should consider having a format on the board, 
    start with: VENTING: and complain about something, and then we can
    bitch about something that irritates us, and get support for where we
    are with no advice, judgment or criticism.  

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________