[Jewelry making - Article 00798] - Re: [Orchid] White gold turned gray

[Michael R. Mathews Sr.]

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    Hello Sue: 

>     After polishing it, it's now gray instead of white. 

    Palladium white is being used more and more now by manufacturers
    because it contains no nickel, it produces fewer defects when cast,
    it is easier to work and manipulate and settings made of it are not
    affected by chemical induced fatigue . Although it is mostly used in
    18K (I won't say 18K "white" because it isn't white in my opinion), I
    have seen it in 14K. Because it is a somewhat ugly off-colored gray,
    it is usually Rhodium plated. After plating, the jewelry item looks
    like bright white platinum which doesn't hurt its sale-ability at all
    since platinum is all the rage for now. Unfortunately, what that
    means to you and all of us, is that we must re-plate every time we
    size, solder, polish or even after the customer wears it for six
    months and comes back in to your store and complains that the item is
    changing colors.     It has come to the point that you can't afford
    to polish or work on white gold(especially .750) jewelry items
    without telling the customer that the item they have might need to be
    re-plated afterwards at their own expense. 

    I am not sure if the FTC has anything on the books to protect a
    customer from this, or if you even have to legally disclose rhodium
    plating. In the Gem world any human controlled treatment that changes
    the appearance, durability or value must be disclosed at the point of
    purchase. In my opinion Rhodium plating changes all three. Sorry so
    long winded. Michael R. Mathews Sr.  Victoria,Texas  USA       JACMBJ 
    www.geocities.com/waxcarver


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