A thin layer of rhodium
U heeft het vast wel eens meegemaakt: u koopt een prachtige wit gouden ring bij een juwelier maar na enkele weken begint zich een gele gloed af te tekenen in de ring. Of soms is het zelfs nog erger en koopt u online een sieraad waarbij de advertentie beweert dat het wit goud is en dan blijkt er koper onder het witte laagje te zitten…. Dit heet rhodineren.
What's going on with the ring? The ring is then made of yellow gold (or sometimes even cheap base metal) and coated with rhodium. Rhodium is an extremely white metal that is applied in a layer of only a maximum of 2microns (= 0.002 millimeters!) over the ring with galvano equipment. The same is often done with white gold rings in order to still be able to put them on display with extra radiance.
Why we don't rhodium or gold plating
People often use the argument that it makes the jewelry more scratch resistant. Also, the layer is said to be a little rough which makes it less likely to slip off your finger. Unfortunately, however, this is nonsense. This ultra-thin layer often comes off very quickly and therefore will not make the ring more scratch resistant at all. And for easily slipping off a ring there is only one solution and that is to make the ring fit well.
Buy jewelry from the goldsmith
All this is the reason why at The Gold Xperience ® we absolutely do not gold plating, silver plating or rhodium plating. We only use honest materials: excellent quality silver, white gold, platinum - even whiter - and yellow gold. With us, what you see is really what you buy!
