Frustrated - yellowing of platinum ring?

[sdali]

I''m new to this forum and signed up because I''ve been having tons of problems with my platinum engagement ring. I''m hoping someone can help me. First, here''s some background info; The ring is a year and 3 months old. At 6 months, I noticed the princess cut diamond was loose. Took it back to the jeweler for adjustment, but kept coming loose over the next 4 months. Finally, the setting was changed to a 4 prong claw (not sure the correct name). The claw prongs were bent and the ring looked terrible. Talked with a different jeweler and he said the setting was for a round cut diamond. I then asked to have it switched back to a larger 4 prong setting in the original style (a chevron setting). Now the diamond is solid in its setting. I had it re-sized last month and now there is a yellow discoloration at the base of the setting where it attaches to the band. I took it to the second opinion jeweler and they said my jeweler had used white gold sodder instead of platinum and the ring was now discolored. I then took it back to my jeweler and they added rhodium plating or white gold to it??

Questions:
Why is white gold being used on my platinum ring? Is this common practice after re-sizing or changing prongs?
Will it discolor often now and will I have to get rhodium put on it every so often?
Is the discoloration due to having so many changes made to the setting and re-sizing?

I tried asking these questions to my jeweler, but the sales people are completely clueless and they BS every question. ALso, they never let me talk with the jeweler personally. I keep returning to this store because the ring and diamond is under a lifetime warrenty and all work done is covered.

Please help!

Thanks!

 

[Brian Knox]

Hi,

you asked:

Questions:
Why is white gold being used on my platinum ring?

Many "platinum" solders used industry wide contain little or no platinum, this is because of the extreme heat needed to "melt" platinum is beyond most jewelers torchs.


Is this common practice after re-sizing or changing prongs?

Yes, You can typically use Higher temp solders at the base of the shank when sizing a ring and therefore have a whiter, more visually seamless joint.

Will it discolor often now and will I have to get rhodium put on it every so often?

The plating should last a long time in that area beacuase it is not subject to wear and tear as it is not exposed.

Is the discoloration due to having so many changes made to the setting and re-sizing?

Yes, most likely.

 

[pqcollectibles]

A lot of jewelers use white gold to solder platinum. Just like Brian said, it's an equipment issue. Most bench jewelers have torches and platinum requires a great deal of heat. A jeweler could potentially damage the mount if they used plat solder and a torch. High tech jewelers use lasers and don't have that problem because lasers generate less heat. Rhodium flash or plating will take care of the yellowed appearance. You will have to repeat the flash/plating every year or so, depending on wear, to maintain the white look.

 

[DavidEmslie]

Plat smithing and gold smithing are similar in many aspects but two compleatly different worlds.

Most bench jewelers have to supply there own tools, solders exc and in many cases are more of a freelance contractor in a store ect. While any repair or basic bench jeweler can work with PT in some aspects there are a few out there that are experts in Platinum. Its cost prohibitive to work in if you dont use it all the time. And the correct solders are often not stocked or expensive to stock, and hence, not stocked, its cheaper and easier to use white gold solder. and there are not that many Pt rings out there either that need to be sized alot.

Not only that, to proporly solder Pt it requires alot of heat...the heat will not dammage the setting, in fact no flux is needed and no tarnishing will come of soldering. the heat will not dammage the pt...however, if it has stones set in the pt...the heat will definatly dammage them,

Diamonds can take direct flame, they can be cast in place and take the shock of molten metal on them for short periods of time, but alas they are just carbon and do burn. and the temps required for pt burn them up nicely

Stones should be dismounted before sizeing. that way PT solder can be used. The temp is so high that if you look at it it will blind you with out special googles, you dont really solder pt you more weld it if you get what I am saying. Its not that the torch cant get that hot, it can, and does with no problem, and the PT solder flows beautifuly and it is some of the most joyful and easy metals to work with if you are set up for it, and do it right.
For any ring there are 3 ways to do it, The right way, the half-A$$ed way and the wrong way. (at least they didnt use silver solder or lead solder, dont laugh I have seen it done and had to correct it!)
The use of white is a last resort, and should be used when there are no other options, IE channel set stones,
But if your ring had to have the head replaced...was that done with PT solder? or not? it shoud be all PT and if there are no side stones there is no good excuse to use white gold solder. When its all pt solder it matches fine and you cant tell.

Words of advice, never trust the sales people that dont do the work, they generaly know about as much on the subject as you do in most cases, hence alot of incorrect asupmtions and statements. If they wont let you even talk to the guy making it...that sounds a little weird, especialy when a ring you are going to wear for you life is involved, if there are special requests. It does not do any good to play wispering down the ally, and passing on messages, with go-betweens.
I would insist on the job being done right.

 

[Michael_E]

I see a lot of old platinum pieces that are in rough shape having been repaired with various solders other than platinum. These come from a friend who buys old pieces, has me fix them up and re-sells them. They have invariably been "fixed" with white gold solders and they are invariably tarnished where those solders show. With pieces like this the only "fix" that looks presentable is plating with Rhodium.
I do agree with David E., that the only way to fix platinum properly is to remove the stones, fix it right with Pt solder and then remount the stones. David you made this comment,"(at least they didnt use silver solder or lead solder, dont laugh I have seen it done and had to correct it!)". I have a question about this, how in the heck did you manage to fix that mess? I've tried fixing gold items that has lead solders on them and it was almost impossible, not to mention a health hazard. Do you have some chemical method of removing the lead solder ?

 

[pinkflamingo]

That is really scary. I want to get our wedding bands resized but I am horribly allergic to white gold. Where would I find a reputable shop who would have access to platinum soldering equipment?

 

[Mara]

maybe i am picky but I would never want white gold used anywhere on my platinum ring! or if they do it should be done with full disclosure. part of the reason i would want platinum is so i don't have to deal with discoloration of wg...EVER.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Thanks!! DavidE for the correction of my post. I thought I remembered reading the heat required to repair platinum could scorch the diamonds, but I didn't wanna write the wrong thing. That's why I said, "damage the setting" instead.