Most wedding rings or engagement rings Philippines are manufactured from among three metals: platinum, white gold or yellow gold. For diamond engagement rings or wedding rings, the popularity of platinum and white gold has increased dramatically in recent years.We have often been asked by customers what the differences are between white gold and platinum.
White gold vs platinum: which is better?
If you “Google” this question, you get a lot of information that is hard to decipher. To help you make an informed selection for your ring or band material, below are a few basic factual statements about the differences between platinum and white gold. There are 3 primary factors to consider: Color, Weight, and Cost. After discussing these factors, I will even give you our suggestions about how to make this choice.
Color (and Rhodium Plating)
Although both platinum and platinum are “white”. However, along with of white gold is actually more light-gray in color than pure white. As a result of this, white gold jewelry is normally plated with a very difficult, white metal known as rhodium. Rhodium is quite white, reflective, extremely hard and virtually tarnish-proof. The rhodium-plating process coats the jewelry with a fine white, shiny surface. To keep up the total whiteness of a white gold gemstone, the rhodium must certanly be replated from time to time, depending on what much wear and tear it absorbs.
Platinum is naturally “white.” While platinum does not necessarily require rhodium plating, jewelry created from platinum is often rhodium-plated inside their final polishing process to offer it that bright and shiny look. Platinum can lose its luster over time, and, like white gold, the rhodium can wear off. Moreover, replating brings back the high shine and brilliance to the jewelry.
If you appear at two identical rings, one a white gold ring and one a platinum ring, both of which were rhodium-plated within their final polishing process, you will not manage to tell the difference between them. But you will find other differences.
Weight
Though rhodium-plated white gold and platinum jewelry are virtually indistinguishable to the casual eye, there’s an important difference in weight. The density of platinum is almost double that of gold. So an item created from platinum will soon be two times as heavy as that made in gold.
As you can guess even before I get to the matter of cost, platinum rings are much more costly than gold rings. But one of the features of platinum is the way in which it feels on your own hand when you wear the ring. It feels heavier and “richer.” In a pricey bit of jewelry, the difference to produce it in platinum is not that big of a difference and the “feel” is a lot superior.
Price
As I noted above, platinum is denser and, therefore, heavier than gold. Because it is rarer and even offers an industrial use (catalytic converters for automobiles and other uses), it is usually more costly as a metal than gold is. Today, however, due to the week industrial economy world wide and the hedging that’s going on in gold, gold is actually about 10% more costly than platinum. But because platinum useful for jewelry is 95% pure versus no more than 58.5% (for 14Kt) or 75% for 18 karat gold, the price per gram for platinum continues to be more than the expense of gold. Combined with difference in weight, the expense of a platinum ring is all about 4 times the expense of the same ring in white gold. Platinum can also be less malleable than gold, which means that more labor must create a platinum gemstone or wedding band than one created from white gold. For reasons of weight, purity and labor, platinum jewelry costs a lot more than white gold jewelry.
Needless to say, if the ring that you are using has diamonds in it being an accent, the difference in the price between using platinum and using white gold will not be as significant (relatively speaking) whilst the difference between two rings without additional diamonds. And this really is especially true in case of other diamond jewelry.
What should you do?
I believe that your decision must be predicated on your current budget for the total ring, including the diamond.
When you yourself have an even more limited budget, I suggest that you choose 14 karat white gold. The advantages are: (1) less expensive, (2) gives you the capacity to use more of your allowance for the important diamond, and (3) exactly the same look as platinum. While you could “feel” the difference, I think the fact you can purchase a more substantial or higher quality diamond within your current budget is more valuable compared to the “feel” of the ring.
If, however, you’ve a more substantial budget, I recommend that you use platinum for the ring. The platinum ring will “feel” more important on your own hand than white gold. This really is an intangible benefit which doesn’t carry a price onto it, but which can be considered “priceless.” There is also a “relative” cost factor to consider. Unlike with an even more limited budget, the ring itself, if made in platinum, will not occupy a significantly larger percentage of your current budget.