Yellow gold may be as timeless and beautiful as ever, but many people are looking for a different look for their engagement rings, wedding bands and other pieces of statement jewellery. White gold is an excellent alternative, providing all the lustre and reassuring weight of traditional gold with a distinctive and elegant colour.
However, white gold can start to become dull and tarnished after years of use, and you may notice that a white gold ring or bracelet starts to turn yellow as it ages. If you've noticed that your white gold jewellery is starting to yellow, don't worry; you haven't been sold fake white gold. The yellowing is caused by damage to the white gold's rhodium plating, a common problem that can be fixed by most reputable jewellery repair services.
Why is my white gold jewellery turning yellow?
It may surprise you to learn that strictly speaking, white gold isn't white. White gold is actually an alloy, created by mixing standard yellow gold with valuable white metals, such as palladium and silver, and while the finished alloy is much paler than yellow or rose gold, it still has a faint yellow tint.
To eliminate this yellow tint, jewellery makers coat finished pieces of white gold jewellery with rhodium, an extremely rare precious metal very similar in colour to platinum. This layer of rhodium is often microscopically thin, but it is immensely durable and should withstand years of use without suffering significant damage. However, after long-term use even the strongest layer of rhodium will start to degrade — when this happens, the yellow tinge of the white gold beneath is revealed once again, causing your jewellery to look dull and tarnished.
How can I restore my white gold jewellery with rhodium re-plating?
Fortunately, restoring your white gold jewellery to its former glory is neither difficult nor expensive. Most reputable jewellery repair services now offer rhodium re-plating as one of their standard services.
During the re-plating process, your jewellery is first thoroughly cleaned to remove any surface impurities and smooth out scratches and scuffs. The jewellery is then immersed in an electrically charged bath containing rhodium — the electrical charge causes the rhodium to chemically bond with the surface of your jewellery, repairing and renewing its protective rhodium layer and restoring your jewellery's colour and shine.
While most jewellery repair companies offer rhodium re-plating services, not all of them do the actual re-plating themselves — rhodium plating requires specialised equipment, and some smaller jewellery repair services send your jewellery to a third-party plating service for professional repair. This can help ensure that the re-plating is done correctly, but it also means that your jewellery will take longer to repair, sometimes several weeks. if you need your jewellery repaired quickly, consider paying a litter extra for a service with in-house re-plating capabilities.
