Why does yellow gold turn white

Rhodium plating will always wear off and the speed at which this happens simply depends on the wearer. It could take years however if you are more hands on, this could take a matter of weeks. Looking for exciting, brilliant white gold jewellery? Come in and chat with a Jenna Clifford consultant today! The resulting jewelry looks more like platinum, only a lot more affordable. If a piece of jewelry sold as white gold has a perfectly white color, with not a single hint of yellow, chances are you are looking at rhodium plating.

Rhodium plating might be good for giving white gold its color, but this coating is not eternal. Your jewelry is exposed to friction and stress every day, which wear it away. Eventually, the rhodium covering your white gold will also wear off, and the yellowish lower layer will become visible.

You can slow down this process by wearing your jewelry less often, but sooner or later your white gold will turn yellow. Click here to see a selection of some of the most popular white gold jewelry. Just bring it in to your jeweler and they should get it looking good as new!

What is White Gold? Why is it Turning Yellow? Here are a few reasons why: Natural acids and chemicals in your skin: This cause is just unavoidable! The oils in your skin will cause the parts of jewelry touching your skin to turn yellow quicker, like the inside of rings.

A wide range of factors contribute to the wear and tear of rhodium, such as how frequently the ring gets wet, the pH balance of the oils in your skin, or even the amount of pollution in the air. Generally, the more you wear your ring, the faster the rhodium will wear away and cause the silver-white color to transition to a yellow shine.

Although white gold naturally turns yellow over time, there are several steps you can take to maintain the color of your white gold jewelry at home. One of the biggest contributors to wear and tear on jewelry is interaction with natural oils, fragrances, soaps, salt water, and chlorine.

Reduce the amount of wear by taking your ring off to do laundry, shower, swim, or wash the dishes. Avoid wearing lotion to eliminate unnecessary oils on your skin that could rub against the rhodium plating of your white gold.

Finally, only have white gold polished when necessary, as any sort of rubbing removes a small amount of rhodium from the surface of your jewelry.

Taking care of your white gold jewelry will extend the lifetime of its rhodium plating. Simply replacing the rhodium layer will give your ring the same brilliant light silver color it had when you first slipped it on your finger while keeping the integrity of the white gold intact. A process called electroplating fuses your worn white gold with fresh rhodium plating.