White Gold Turning Yellow ?

Q: Sorry if this is OT, I remember a lot of people with jewerly expertise in this group when I was a bride so I thought I'd post. Today I got my wedding band polished at a mall kiosk. It is 18k white gold, or shall I say it was. Now it has a yellow gold tone to it. I didn't notice it until I got home or I would have said something at the mall but now I don't trust them to fix it. Is this a result of some chemical they used or a flaw in the white gold itself?

A: White gold is coated yellow gold, from what I remember. Sounds like they've polished the coating off, so you'll need to have it redone. This happens over years/months of wear anyway, which is why my jeweller, who made my engagement ring, advised against white gold, as it was high maintenance. From the Straight Dope web site: (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwhtgold.html) "14k white gold has a yellowish tinge and is often plated with rhodium (a platinum group metal) to give it a white appearance." I would guess they polished the plating off, and you're seeing the gold underneath. Check to see what they might be able to do for you, but I'm guessing that you'll have to talk with your jeweler to get it fixed. After reading your original post again - it appears that I assumed the wrong info. 18K white gold shouldn't have this problem (from my limited reading on the subject) and it *could* be that your ring was under-karated. You should go to a *third* independent jeweler to check. If, in fact, you paid for 18K but only received 14K gold, you may have to check with your local consumer protection agency for further instructions. I hope this isn't the case, but you might want to check, anyways. That's simply not true. My mother's engagement ring is white gold and she's had it for nearly 40 years. It's still white and she polishes regularly. I think there's a difference between the quality of the gold or something else about the gold that makes it change color.

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