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Do I take bad care of my wedding band?
My wedding band is 14K white gold with small diamonds in/on the top portion of it and I try really hard to take good care of it but I feel like it's so scratched all around and yellowing on the bottom (which I know is common in white gold). I got my Ering redipped right before the wedding but I had that for over 15 months before I felt the need to. My Ering doesn't look like it needs redipped again but then again I don't wear it as often as I do my band. I am starting to think I should get my band redipped but I feel like it's really early to be doing that since I've only been wearing it about 8 months.
Has anyone gotten their wedding band redipped yet? If not, do you think you will soon or does yours still look great? I feel like I'm being a bad ring owner by letting it get so scratched but I really try to be careful with it...blah.
Re: Do I take bad care of my wedding band?
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TTC Since January 2011 - We have bad spermI can get mine redipped once a year for free, so I will be getting it done in October. I have noticed that mine is getting a little scratched up and changing color, but I never take either off (they are soldered together).
Do you get it cleaned regularly and checked out to make sure nothing is loose? I try to get mine cleaned once a month, but that doesn't always happen. I figure that I have really good insurance on mine so if something happens I am covered but I still try to take it in and have them look at it.
I also have 14k white gold, and I haven't re-dipped mine once. (I've had my engagement ring for almost 2 years, and I wear it all the time.) I clean them regularly, (eta: not professionally - that hasn't been done since the wedding), but I don't think either of them look like they're yellowing. Honestly, I didn't even know re-dipping was a thing until TK/TN.
I hear ya. The rings were so much nicer on our wedding day. They are definitely weathered at this point.
I clean mine with the at-home solution from our jeweler about once a month and I check my stones myself. As part of the plan, I get mine professionally cleaned/inspected every six months (I did my ering more often because I was so anal about it being super sparkly lol), and dipped once a year.
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I got mine redipped recently. I had them both done though my ering was the one that REALLY needed it. I figured now they're both on the same "schedule" haha. I noticed it got really bad when I went to the beach in March, I think just being out in the sea air really made it yellow faster. I always take mine off to swim or go in the ocean or layout on the beach but just walking on the beach with DH seemed to make it get dirty much much faster.
I think mine get dirty because I never take them off (except for the situations already mentioned and maybe cooking when I need to use my hands or cleaning with chemicals) - I sleep, shower, wash my hands etc with them on.
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I just dropped mine off last weekend for their 6 month dipping/inspecting/cleaning. It's part of our insurance that it needs to be done every 6 months. Honestly, I'd take it more often if it didn't take them 2 weeks to get it back. Since I'm finding that it looks like I have an allergy to nickel, having it re-dipped in rhodium really helps from my finger breaking out.
Otherwise, as far as cleaning goes, I use a simple solution at home MAYBE once a month.
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I have to have mine inspected every 6th months and I usually have it cleaned then. My W-ring/wrap is white gold too (my e-ring is palladium) and I haven't noticed any yellowing. It is a bit scratched because I never take them off (we have really good insurance and I think they are meant to be worn), but otherwise it looks pretty good. It does always amaze me how much more sparkly it is after it's cleaned though.
I think you're fine Xan. My rings are white gold and I never take off my wedding band. My e-ring was redipped prewedding after having it 14 months. I haven't got them redone since then. However, they're definitely both yellowing on the back-side of the band (the "front" half both have diamonds so you can't tell)
Eeva- I'd think that it really depends on the person, the activities they do and when/how often they wear their rings? For example, I wear my wedding ring when exercising. I'd think that the few hours of sweat a week would have an affect on the plating vs. someone who doesn't wear theirs when excercising?
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Thanks for the tips ladies! Under my Erings policy I have to get it checked out/cleaned once a year, but my wedding band doesn't have a policy. We bought it while on vacation at a jewelry store that was going out of business, so they didn't offer anything on it; however, we saved about 50% on it which rocks. Don't worry, I had it appraised and it's worth way more than we bought it for so it's not like it's a crap ring or anything. I have it insured under my rental insurance but that doesn't cover cleaning/dippings etc so I've never even had it cleaned. I called a local jewelry store and they said they'd clean and redip it for $45 and it only takes 3 days to get back, so I think after summer is over I'll do that.
As some of you said, weather, sweat, etc may cause it to change quicker, so I think I'll wait until I'm done with the beach, hot weather, etc.
Thanks again!
Hannah / Eeva - it's even more than just when you wear your ring. Some people's chemical make-up in their skin can cause a reaction to the metals and cause them to wear faster.
I've heard this as well. Also if your rings are not soldered together they may rub together an cause wear on the sides more quickly.
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Hey guys. While it's true that acids and wear can corrode rhodium plating, continuous wear still shouldn't be exposing the substrate of your white gold within a year!
I found my vintage engagement ring in the bottom of a trunk, with the band snapped in half. The original band was platinum. When the band was replaced, the jeweler put on a white gold band and plated it with rhodium. that was in July 2004. Since that ring went on my finger in July 2008, I have never taken my engagement ring off, save for one week in 2009 when I had it resized. I exercise with it, bath with it, cook with it, swim with it, etc. the only thing I don't do with it is handle dough and raw minced meat, because the bits get into the filigree. but it's pretty rare that I'm doing that. There isn't even the slightest evidence that the plating on my ring is wearing and showing the yellow underneath. And there is yellow underneath--I can see a small spot where there is no plating where the jeweler in Japan resized it and didn't replate.
The same jeweler who replaced my band and did the plating, replated my mum's white gold "mother's ring" in 2008 (the same time I got engaged and mum took my ring in for cleaning). She wears hers every day, also. Gardening, cleaning, bathing, sweating, eating. No wear on her plating yet (to my knowledge) after 3 years. Though, neither she nor I knows what the inside of her band looks like (the bit against her skin). That area always corrodes faster than the outside of the band.
Jewelers will usually put the bare minimum of rhodium on a ring. I would ask your jeweler, flat out, what the actual thickness (in microinches) is on your plating. Compare that to other jewelers. Sometimes jewelers simply don't know what the hell they're doing. We had to do plating in our conservation lab, and I found it effing difficult.
As for the comment that the 58 year old white gold has never turned yellow, that's likely because your gold alloy is palladium. (nice!) Most white gold alloy in the US and Canada is made with nickel. When gold mixes with nickel, you get varying degrees of yellowish white colour. When it's mixed with palladium, it's much more white and is often not even plated with rhodium in an attempt to cover the yellow colour. So either it's not plated and it looks white anyway, or it is plated but the substrate metal is so white you hardly notice the wear.
I hope this all makes sense.
eta: I thought I'd mention that rhodium is very expensive, so that's why jewelers try to put on as thin a plating as they can get away with. Also, if they put it on thinner, you'll have to come back more frequently to get it replated
I've had my engagement ring for years now and it's never been dipped. It is yellowing on the bottom a little now so I'm thinking of getting it dipped soon. My wedding band is pretty good still too so I'm not worried about it.
I've heard the same thing some of the others have about your body chemistry affecting the ring.
My jeweler doesn't charge for it to be redipped (or sized) so it doesn't make sense that they would put the bare minimum of plating on just 'cuz.
Who knows. Xan, to answer your original question, I wouldn't be worried but if it bugs you, I'd get it redipped
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This. i clean mine with the 2 part jewelry cleaner. Thepaste to scrub and the pink liquid to soak it. It looks great after it is done.
Sounds like you've replated white gold before? I was just curious how it is done. Is it dipped in a liquid to get the current rhodium off first? I assume they leave the stones in when its done?
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Rhodium plating is made from an alloy added to yellow gold to make it white...so ACTUALLY if you have super acidic levels in your skin it can cause your ring to turn faster, not a negligent layering.....its individually based on a person's body chemistry and how the acid level in your skin reacts with the gold.....I didnt work at kays for almost a year and get NOTHING out of it
Xan....mine arnt soldered (yet...i really dont want to but might...) so they go on different ways every time i put them on...so both sides are scratched...from the rings rubbing together...it happens and you're fine
I'll get mine redipped in september unless it needs something else prior to, but i might send them out one at a time so im not without 
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This is exactly what I was thinking. Mine can be redipped once a year for free so I don't know why they would try to "short" me.
Just because your jeweller isn't charging you for the Rhodium, doesn't mean it isn't costing them to plate it on. You not paying for it is even more reason for them to want to skimp on it.
Who knows. It's a family jeweler that DH's family has been going to for years; like FIL bought MIL's e-ring there over 30 yrs ago. IMO it's a completely trustworthy company so I appreciate their offer to redip for free as needed.
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