J33Edwards Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Can you guys give me your positive and negative thoughts on the difference between white gold and platinum for engagement rings (other then price)...I've been reading around but my head is still spinning :doh: thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 You buy white gold if you can get away with it. Platinum if you cant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaFunky1 Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 White gold is a much softer metal, easier to resize, and cheaper than platinum (as you know). White gold also retains much of its luster after years of wear, but is easy to polish back to a like new shine. Depending on the type of ring you are looking for white gold will be easier to cast and there are more options available for white gold than platinum... especially at a more reasonable price. Platinum is a harder metal, hard to find anyone locally (at least here) to resize due to the cost of working with platinum and the skill needed to work with platinum... something to keep in mind if you plan on moving sometime to an area with no major metropolitan areas nearby. This of course is assuming it would need to be resized or repaired at some point. Once platinum gets scratched, it is hard to polish and over time will lose most of it's luster. It is more of a true "silver" color than white gold which has a very faint yellow tint to it, though hard to notice unless you put it against something white. I forgot to mention... since this is an engagement ring, it depends on what she wants as well. My girl likes "silver" jewelry and I am a more traditional yellow gold guy. She is the one who has to wear that ring hopefully for the rest of her life so get her something close to what she likes. My experience has shown me... STAY AWAY FROM MAJOR CHAIN JEWELRY STORES!!! They are way over priced. Check out your local warehouse clubs... SAMS, BJs, Costco. They all carry nice jewelry with a decent selection. Learn about the 4 C's (Cut, Color, Clarity, Carat Size) before you buy anything. There is nothing wrong with looking in regular jewelry stores for ideas, but don't buy anything from them no matter how good of a deal they offer you because you will still pay too much for an inferior product. These guys link offered a free informative book... If you can't get it free online, call them up and ask them for one. I have one and it was very helpful. Let us know how things work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Symbol Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 If you're in the U.S., you try and push the White Gold, if you're in Japan when you do your shopping, sorry you're stuck with the platinum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J33Edwards Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 She definitely prefers silver rings to gold ones so I think its down to white gold or platinum but as far as which one of those to go with I'm not really sure. I am trying to weigh the benefits of each and see if I would be better off going with a larger stone in a white gold setting or a smaller stone in platinum. As of right now I'm told that platinum is anywhere from two to four times more then white gold. One place quoted me a white gold band at around 700 and said platinum would be around 2400 while another store had a band at around 750 and said platinum would be 1500. Decisions decisions thanks for the replys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Funky, you got it backwards. Platinum is heavier (denser, actually) than is gold but it's softer and therefore easier to scratch and bend. It needs to be polished more regularly than gold does. Still, platinum is more valuable, and the scuffing and wear issues are less of a problem with most women than they are with most men given that men are more careless with their hands then women by and large. This is why my wife's diamond engagement ring was set in platinum, while my wedding band was set in gold. I didn't care about the money value of it and I figured I'd beat the thing up badly. It's up to your woman. If she's big on nice things (and you can afford it) go with platinum. It's a piece of jewelry she'll have forever. OTOH, if she's not into jewelry, white gold's probably going to be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 You should buy the stone separately from a diamond merchant and have it put into a ring. The main market is in NYC, but there are dealers in most major cities. You will save a bundle and get a better final product. White gold is fine - it's the stone that matters. Size, color, cut, clarity. By the way, you can skimp on the clarity in order to get better size and color. There is no point paying for a flawless diamond - no one can see the difference except an expert. Get a big, very white slightly imperfect stone and it will come out stunning. PS - DO NOT buy from a chain jeweler - you will get ripped off. Frankly, if she likes the silver look, give it to her. The ring is all about making her happy. She's gonna look at that ring every day for the rest of her life (if you're lucky). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 What Predicto is describing is precisely what I did. I ended up putting together a ring for only 2/3 of what it cost retail. Take a look at www.niceice.com for diamonds. I went through them several years ago and they were great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaFunky1 Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Maybe I am wrong... I talked to a few jewelers and all have told me platinum is a harder metal than white gold... These sites say the same thing as I was trying to say... Link "White gold is essentially goldwith some other metals mixed in. This makes it much harder than regular gold(yellow gold) and gives it the silvery appearance. Platinum is even harder than white gold. If you compared two identical rings, the platinum one would feel heavier. I asked the jeweler what that meant in terms of time. He said that if weassumed a given ring style in 18 karat gold lasted 20 years (this number ispretty much out of the air) than the same exact ring in white gold might last30-40 years and the same ring in platinum might last 40-50 years. Basically,the harder the ring, the slower the wear. If you are planning to pick a ringwith an intricate pattern or inlaid diamonds, in may be worth it to go with theharder metal." Link - About half-way down "Are Platinum and White Gold Similar Metals? No, they are quite different. To create white gold, yellow gold is alloyed with other metals to achieve a white look, see our section "About Gold". However, it does not have the same purity, strength, rarity, durability or natural white color as platinum." Same page at the bottom... Facts about Platinum - Platinum requires special skills and tools to work with. - It is completely hypoallergenic. - Platinum is the hardest of the precious metals and it never tarnishes. - Platinum is more resistant to wear and tear than gold or silver because it has a higher density. - A six-inch cube weighs 165 lbs - Platinum has an extremely high melting temperature. In its purest form it melts at 3214 degrees F, almost twice the temperature needed to melt 14 karat gold. - All the platinum ever mined would produce a cube 17 feet on each side, less than 5000 cubic feet. - It takes up to 10 tons of ore to produce one ounce of platinum, more than twice as much ore that is typically needed for an ounce of gold. - Platinum is not susceptible to problems like stress corrosion or stress cracking as can be the case with white gold. - Platinum is resistant to attack from most chemicals. - 1 gram of platinum can be made into wire 2 miles long. - It takes 8 weeks to refine pure platinum from the ore extracted from the earth. - Platinum is used in medicine and industry for its catalytic, physical and hypoallergenic properties - The ultimate stability of platinum over the years is unmatched. - It does not wear, and its extreme level of durability offers a profound guarantee of strength and longevity. Good Luck with your purchase. Peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J33Edwards Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 Are most jewelers usually cool about you simply buying the setting from them...and then putting a diamond in from another store? I have found a guy with what seems to be really good prices on diamonds, he even showed me how to use a loupe and a gemoscope (sp?) I'm going to have to check on things such as table, etc on his diamonds but right now I'm thinking that it would be best to get a diamond from him...but I also found a jeweler with a setting that is beautiful that I want. So if I could buy the diamond from this guy and the setting from the other jeweler and have them put together I could have myself a ring... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riggins44 Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 I buy all my wife's jewelry from a custom jeweler. Just get better quality and he's more interested in making sure I am satisfied. He shoots straight and gives me honest answers and advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaFunky1 Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Originally posted by J33Edwards Are most jewelers usually cool about you simply buying the setting from them...and then putting a diamond in from another store? Some are... I have a contact here in GA that will do that very same thing for me. He can also order settings as well. If you can, find out the name of the company that made the setting and the "part number" of the setting and you should be able to find a local jeweler who will do that for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Originally posted by DaFunky1 White gold is a much softer metal, easier to resize, and cheaper than platinum (as you know). White gold also retains much of its luster after years of wear, but is easy to polish back to a like new shine. Depending on the type of ring you are looking for white gold will be easier to cast and there are more options available for white gold than platinum... especially at a more reasonable price. Platinum is a harder metal, hard to find anyone locally (at least here) to resize due to the cost of working with platinum and the skill needed to work with platinum... something to keep in mind if you plan on moving sometime to an area with no major metropolitan areas nearby. This of course is assuming it would need to be resized or repaired at some point. Once platinum gets scratched, it is hard to polish and over time will lose most of it's luster. It is more of a true "silver" color than white gold which has a very faint yellow tint to it, though hard to notice unless you put it against something white. I forgot to mention... since this is an engagement ring, it depends on what she wants as well. My girl likes "silver" jewelry and I am a more traditional yellow gold guy. She is the one who has to wear that ring hopefully for the rest of her life so get her something close to what she likes. My experience has shown me... STAY AWAY FROM MAJOR CHAIN JEWELRY STORES!!! They are way over priced. Check out your local warehouse clubs... SAMS, BJs, Costco. They all carry nice jewelry with a decent selection. Learn about the 4 C's (Cut, Color, Clarity, Carat Size) before you buy anything. There is nothing wrong with looking in regular jewelry stores for ideas, but don't buy anything from them no matter how good of a deal they offer you because you will still pay too much for an inferior product. These guys link offered a free informative book... If you can't get it free online, call them up and ask them for one. I have one and it was very helpful. Let us know how things work out. This statement couldn't be more incorrect. My parents are friends of a high end jeweler and he hates working with White Gold and says no jeweler likes working with white gold. They all like dealing with Platinum. Platinum if you can afford it is a much better gold. If you can't afford it go with Yellow gold unless you like the look of white gold better. However, in the long term Platinum is a much better investment and easier to work with than White Gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 I'm commenting more on wear than hardness, but I stand by what I said. Platinum shows more scratches and blemishes than white gold does. Now, you can get the ring polished back up again, and I'm sure that over time you're losing less platinum through this process than you would gold, but for the money, the appearance of a gold ring - again, primarily for guys - holds up better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Originally posted by J33Edwards Are most jewelers usually cool about you simply buying the setting from them...and then putting a diamond in from another store? It depends. I bought my wife's diamond through niceice.com, and then bought the setting from Robbins Bros., a chain engagement ring store out here in SoCal (I don't know if they've expanded outside my region). I used them for the setting because they have a huge selection, and my wife was involved in trying out rings (no surprise involved here) so it was one-stop shopping. I had problems with them getting the stone set, not so much because they couldn't do it but rather because they were geared to sell everything and had difficulty administratively in accepting an unset diamond. I had to fight with them over it but eventually they relented and it turned out fine. My advice would be to check beforehand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaFunky1 Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Originally posted by SkinsFanMania This statement couldn't be more incorrect. My parents are friends of a high end jeweler and he hates working with White Gold and says no jeweler likes working with white gold. They all like dealing with Platinum. Platinum if you can afford it is a much better gold. If you can't afford it go with Yellow gold unless you like the look of white gold better. However, in the long term Platinum is a much better investment and easier to work with than White Gold. Which statement is incorrect? You put quote my whole post and tell me I was incorrect I'd like to know where. My second post backs up my assertion that platinum is hard to work with. As far as working with platinum I said no one here, at least that I can find, has the equipment to work with platinum. Platinum is a better investment no argument here. Gold, yellow or white, is easier to work with than platinum. If I were a jeweler I would rather deal in platinum... more money in my pocket, plus I would just send it out to have it worked on and put a mark-up on that service, pass it on to the consumer without needing to hire a jeweler who can do the work, or buy the expensive equipment needed to do it. As far as not working with white gold, maybe your parents friend is a snob like my friend's grandad who shows me his $150K diamond ring everytime I stop in his shop? He loved to brag about his wife's platinum rings. But even though he loves platinum, he has to send out his platinum rings to have them resized because he can't do the work. He has been in the business for 60+ years... So if he says platinum is harder to work with... I'll take his word for it. I agree with you Redman that Platinum will last longer, and that gold retains it luster longer... plus I can walk into a jewelry store and get gold polished right up. If I wasn't clear in my assertions than my bad. I'm man enough to admit if I didn't say what I was trying to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J33Edwards Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 Originally posted by DaFunky1 If you can, find out the name of the company that made the setting and the "part number" of the setting and you should be able to find a local jeweler who will do that for you. I think the store actually makes their settings...but I could be wrong. Thanks for the advice everybody, lord knows I need all the help I can get :notworthy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mardi gras skin Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 If you REALLY love her.... http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040213_1479.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J33Edwards Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 Originally posted by mardi gras skin If you REALLY love her.... http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040213_1479.html :doh: now I gotta go into space? I hate flying.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blondie Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 At this time I will say that I, for one, would take ANY kind of ring. Cigar band included. Blondie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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