From everything I have read, most jewlers will coat a white gold ring if it turns yellow.?

Okay, here goes....

White gold is an alloy, in other words it's a mix of metals. Yellow gold is always part of the recipe, and to it is added a metal to 'whiten' it. Common metals used are nickle and palladium.....platinum can be used but the goldsmith must be experienced in making that particular combo.

Palladium is more often used today because many people have issues with nickle allergies...and a yellow gold/nickle alloy is harder therefore more difficult to set stones into.

The color of the resulting white gold alloy will differ depending on the base metal used, and the quality of the metals used. Nickle tends to give one a silvery-gray tone, most like platinum, while palladium offers a more white silver tone similar to sterling.

Good white gold NEVER yellows with time and ANYONE that tells you that is feeding you a line of bull. Period. White gold does NOT tarnish....however, sterling will turn brown, then blacken if not polished and some people can't tell the dif between sterling and white gold, thus the confusion.

Because the demand of white gold is high, some manufacturors are offering lesser grade white gold at top dollar...and they are off color.

Most often a faint yellow tinge, there can even be a brownish cast to the piece.

To hide that , and to disguise the fact that all white white gold, no matter how good the grade, can never polish up to the mirror bright finish so popular now, the peices are often plated in rhodium.

When the rhodium wears off, the true color or cast of the white gold underneath is revealed.

So your jeweler is right when he implies it's the quality of the white gold you have. And rhodium plating he does not offer.

So either find a place that will re-plate the ring, accept it's an off-colored piece, or replace it.

Note- My first wedding set (1974, first marriage) was white gold...it was the natural satiny silver-gray and it never turned in over 20 years of constant wear....Methinks you've got a piece of off-color (lesser quality) white gold that's been plated.

And yes, you've a right to question the ethics and quality-unfortunately the public demands white gold right now and until that demand dies and yellow gold comes back, you will have to be very careful where and what you buy...if it's got a bright white shiny mirror finish, then it's plated...and if it's plated-BEWARE! Good luck.

note* I refuse to buy white gold peices unless they are at least 30 years old, and are not plated....therefore until the industry changes their recent practices, I am restricted to antique and estate peices.

The jeweler we bought my ring from offered a warranty that you could purchase with the ring. For an extra $50 or so, it covered my entire bridal set (engagement ring and wedding band) for semi-annual "check-ups" where the ring can be sized up or down up to two sizes (which is handy because my finger is only a size 4.5, so it will likely need re-sized one day), it covers cleanings, and it also covers re-coating the ring if the white gold turns yellow over time.

It sounds to me like your ring turned yellow quite fast, because mine has not yet, and I also have other white gold jewelry that has never changed colour. To be honest, I never knew that it turns yellow over time until the jeweler told us when we bought the warranty. It's possible that the gold isn't as high of quality as your other jewelry I suppose, as he said. And unfortunately, I don't know that there is much that you can expect them to do if you didn't purchase a warranty with the ring, or if they don't have some type of guarantee. It might be worth complaining about the quality, but they are not required to do anything. Sorry! Good luck and maybe if you put up a fuss they will fix it or offer to sell you a warranty.

I was not thrilled when I found out after the fact about my ring that it would need to be re dipped and all this. I was not told when I bought it. I would have spent the few hundred dollars more on platinum. I took my ring in to get sized and same thing. I had to pay $125 to have it redipped and then they did not size it correctly and swear that they did. UM NO, it does not fit, too small. So I had to pay again to have it resized and when it came back, same problem as yours. Now I have to pay another $125 to have it redipped again to get it back to solid white. Annoyed. I am thinking of just tossing the damn band and removing my diamond. I will never buy white gold again due to this whole issue. I have only had my ring a little over two years now and have already spent about $350 in just maintenance. I feel for you.

I was recently at Kay Jewlers purchasing a white gold ring and asked the same question. From Kay I was given a lifetime warrenty in which when needed I give the ring to Kay and they send the ring in to be redipped. All it is is a dipping stage to turn the gold white, so yes most will redip the item for you.

Did you buy the ring from that dealer who re-sized it? That sounds like they should have known it might happen. But yeah it sounds like your ring is not solid white gold - or it's yellow gold under it. The jeweler may have added yellow filling in it to expand the ring too, but that's just a guess and sounds unlikely.

It is called rhodium plating. It happens to white gold on some people (depending on body chemistry). But I'm surprised that your jeweler will not do this for you. Most of the jewelry stores in the malls here (Charlotte, NC) will do it either for free or for a small cost. I would talk to one of them about it.

Good luck and congratulations!

Here's a link.

It basically says, there's no such thing as "white" gold. The turning yellow you speak of, is actually the "white" plating wearing off, and showing the gold through.

My fiance gave me a white gold ring that had been in his family for three generations. It was a dark brown, and he had to have it "cleaned" before he gave it to me.

Just go to another jeweller who will redip the ring. Yes, he's right it depends on the quality. Most women have to replate their rings at least once a year.

Yes, white gold turns yellow with age BUT if it wasn't yellow when you took it to the jeweler's, he's obviously at fault. Something makes me think that he didn't do his job right. Could he have even re-sized with yellow gold?

my wedding band is white gold and the white gold does start to tarnish a little over time and become a little yellower. it can be rhodium dipped to bring it back to its white gold color.