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Platinum tarnish

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MrsWhitney

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 19, 2012
Messages
287
I know this sounds crazy (I posted in colored stones earlier about a different issue) but the ring marked "plat" is tarnishing...isn't this weird? What causes it to turn dark gray? I have had years of platinum and never saw this- it is not yellow....but darker? and not a patina...thoughts?
 
My thought was a patina, but you have ruled that out. Now I, like you, will be awaiting a good answer.

Wink
 
Could it have come in contact accidently with a cleaning chemical or such??
 
Someone might have used lower temperature solder in assembly of the ring. Many gold based solders allow their alloy component to tarnish and a few platinum based, lower temperature solders, may also contain alloys that could oxidize just like some gold solders might do. It could be just along a seam, but could also look more like a puddle of darkness on a surface where the solder reached the surface and pooled when it was in a liquid state. Rhodium plating will alleviate the appearance, but that darkening will come back as the plating wears away. It might be some impurity in the platinum itself, but it is difficult to be sure. Platinum by itself does not tarnish.
 
I know it's stamped PLAT, but have you tested it?
 
Thank you all. I will have it tested first thing in the am. I am trying to return the ring (but I purchased it via the UK) and cannot find a company to ship it (USPS said no- UPS won't insure...) and the man wants a 30% restocking fee ($550)....

It is a nightmare...
 
@MrsWhitney 30% restocking fee does not sound reasonable and is not the norm in the UK. May I ask where you purchased from?
 
If it’s through eBay, tell the seller the item is not as described, it’s not platinum and you’ll be opening a dispute. That usually brings them around to being reasonable. Restocking fees are rubbish, expect to be out of pocket shipping charges but forget ridiculous “restocking fees”. Also, how was it sent to you? Send it back the exact same way.
 
Bron357 said:
If it’s through eBay, tell the seller the item is not as described, it’s not platinum and you’ll be opening a dispute. That usually brings them around to being reasonable. Restocking fees are rubbish, expect to be out of pocket shipping charges but forget ridiculous “restocking fees”. Also, how was it sent to you? Send it back the exact same way.
Click to expand...

Apparently, since I won via Ebay, but broke up the payments by 7 days, he did a request via PayPal (I purchased through eBay though) and I made a mistake and paid that way, PayPal 2 requests (it even had the item ID number) eBay says it is in his favor because their records show unpaid now that PayPal and eBay are separate accounts....literally that is what they just said.
So I am just out the money.
 
If it helps, the Simon G platinum setting I bought is PT900, 90% platinum and 10% iridium to avoid the ring to tarnish. So it is a thing apparently..

Quote:
“Simon G. platinum is alloyed with iridium, which prevents the development of a gunmetal color appearing over time”
 
Lachinoiserie said:
If it helps, the Simon G platinum setting I bought is PT900, 90% platinum and 10% iridium to avoid the ring to tarnish. So it is a thing apparently..

Quote:
“Simon G. platinum is alloyed with iridium, which prevents the development of a gunmetal color appearing over time”
Click to expand...

That is helpful! It is a gunmetal tarnish!
 
Oldminer was right....

I did just get back from the jeweler (the best one in the town by recs) and he found the setting had been resized, and made with an 18kt gold thing....but it was platinum...and then they rhodium plated it to cover it up....however the side diamonds are .30 each (he took them out) and said they are F/G VS...and so he said at the least those were alright. And better than advertised. He was not sure without further testing but thinks the sapphire is fracture filled. So....I am just heartbroken. I have no clue what to do if I cannot find someone to ship it with insurance....
 
@MrsWhitney - What did you end up doing with the ring? I’m bummed eBay wasn’t willing to help. And, how is your health these days?
 
MrsWhitney, sorry to hear of your issues. If you paid by Paypal you will have paypal protection for your purchase. Contact Paypal with all the details of the purchase and they should be able to help you. Good luck!
 
Lachinoiserie said:
If it helps, the Simon G platinum setting I bought is PT900, 90% platinum and 10% iridium to avoid the ring to tarnish. So it is a thing apparently..

Quote:
“Simon G. platinum is alloyed with iridium, which prevents the development of a gunmetal color appearing over time”
Click to expand...


In the UK we only have 95 platinum and 5 other, anything below 95 per cent platinum is not considered enough for hallmarking as platinum. Therefore 900 platinum and 100 iridium is not platinum, I checked this with a jeweller here too when I was going to buy Dvatche U113 and was told to get the 95 x 5 mix if I wanted to have what is termed a platinum ring.
 
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I've seen rings here marked 900 platinum that were 90% platinum, 10% iridium. It is still used by top ringmakers like Victor Canera.

"Victor Canera uses a 90% Platinum, 10% Iridium mixture. This mixture, through our accumulated experience, is the most attractive white tone and most durable, scratch resistant of platinum mixtures."

https://www.victorcanera.com/education/jewelry/platinum-vs-gold
 
I’m sorry it hasn’t ended well for you. An unpleasant experience. With eBay, always pay through the eBay link using PayPal. A payment request from the seller isn’t the same thing as an eBay invoice. In theory, provided you didn’t use “family and friends” for the payment method, you can still dispute just through PayPal - but it’s got nothing to do with eBay anymore- but you’ll be disputing against what the invoice you paid said, again no linkage to what the eBay listing might have said.
Yeah, and the seller knows how the system works, slime, that’s why he sent you the PayPal invoice. Bet it doesn’t specify the ring in detail.
 
I know 90% Platinum is used in America, just that British hallmarking standards are stricter to receive the platinum symbol of an Orb inside a Pentagon stamped into the metal which is the fineness of the platinum. Otherwise in UK it would be called a platinum mix.
 
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In the same way in UK we have 9 carat and 18 carat hallmarked gold. USA has 10 karat and 14 karat gold. We have some 14 karat gold but it comes in from other European countries and not from the UK. We also spell carat gold with a c and USA and rest of Europe spell it with a k. I had never seen gold written with a k until more European gold started coming here and without proper hallmarks with symbols, just the letters 14k inside rings. Our hallmarking has about 5 symbols stamped into a ring, a weight mark, sponsors mark, standard mark, assay office location mark and a date letter, sometimes there is speciality marks too such as a cross with 2000 which was stamped at other side of ring in the millennium.
 
Germany has 8 karat gold.
 
Apparently it is not a P that is in the pentagon but an Orb.



Traditional Fineness Symbol
If your platinum item has a purity of 950 or 999, it may display the traditional orb mark. In our example photograph, you can see the second stamp is the traditional fineness symbol.
 
MrsWhitney said:
Oldminer was right....

I did just get back from the jeweler (the best one in the town by recs) and he found the setting had been resized, and made with an 18kt gold thing....but it was platinum...and then they rhodium plated it to cover it up....however the side diamonds are .30 each (he took them out) and said they are F/G VS...and so he said at the least those were alright. And better than advertised. He was not sure without further testing but thinks the sapphire is fracture filled. So....I am just heartbroken. I have no clue what to do if I cannot find someone to ship it with insurance....
Click to expand...

Never really see or hear about fracture filling over in UK as stones are usually small. I looked back at your ring and would not think sapphires of such darkness would be heated or fracture filled.
 
MrsWhitney, I am so glad to see you back. I, too, hope you are well. Sorry this ebay purchase didn't go well.
 
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