1. WHY IS MY ENGAGEMENT RING TURNING YELLOW? RUMORS DEBUNKED!
This is a question that so many people are interested in. First of all, be aware that white metals such as palladium and platinum usually stay the same colour, which can’t be said about white gold.
If you’re wearing a white gold engagement ring, it’s likely to be alloyed with nickel or palladium to “bleach” the gold to a white color. Jewellers, as a rule, electroplate the white gold with bright rhodium to hide the “gray-yellow” appearance and make the ring bright and astonishing.
Standard 9-carat white gold consists of 37.5% gold plus minimum 45% silver plus 17.5% other alloying elements. Carat is a measure of the purity of gold and it shouldn’t be confused with the weight of a diamond.
There are many jewellers who rhodium plate white gold as standard so to provide the bright white appearance typical of platinum or palladium. This plating doesn’t stay forever. Usually, the thickness of the rhodium plating offered by jewellers isn’t too heavy to stand the test of time: it usually stays for several months.
As soon as the rhodium is worn off and the more the engagement ring rubs on things, you’ll notice the naturally pale gray-yellow colour of the white gold alloy. So, the only reason people with rhodium-plated white gold rings notice their rings “turning yellow” is that the rhodium plating is worn off, thus exposing the natural colour of the metal underneath.
Rhodium plating isn’t going to stay forever. The speed at which will be worn off depends on the wearer of the engagement ring: it could take years or just several weeks.
2. WHY DOES MY ENGAGEMENT RING LOOK CLOUDY? RUMORS DEBUNKED!
As time passes, your engagement ring gets cloudy. As a result, once once-sparkling engagement ring turns dark and foggy. If you’re wearing a diamond engagement ring and the gem has turned cloudy, this is because of the back of the stone, which is, in fact, the hardest part. This is the most difficult area to keep clean.
The back of the gemstones tends to accumulate a layer of, e.g., soap film that blocks light from shining through them, thus making them look dull.
Of course, you can take your engagement ring to a jeweller, but you can also use it at home to brighten up your favourite jewellery item. At-home do-it-yourself methods are fine for yellow or white gold or platinum jewellery set with most gemstones including diamonds, sapphires, rubies, tanzanite, amethyst, blue topaz, and more. Remember not to soak pearls, opals, onyx, emeralds, or other soft gemstones, as they can be damaged by the cleaning solution.
So, what should you do? You just need to wash your engagement ring in a diluted solution of water and a common household non-caustic cleaning solution. Leave it to soak for several hours, then place a washcloth in the bathroom sink, close the sink drain, and turn on the cold water. Toothpaste must never be used for cleaning your jewellery.
If you’re particularly interested in a diamond engagement ring, here are the reasons that could make your diamond look cloudy:
- You don’t clean it regularly
- You wear it while slathering on with lotion or heavy creams
- You use it while cooking or you take a bath with it on
- You play sports, lift weights, or go swimming with it on
And more.
Don’t forget that oxidation (exposure to air) will speed tarnishing your engagement ring, so make sure to keep it in a nice closing jewellery box.
3. WHY DOES MY ENGAGEMENT RING SMELL? RUMORS DEBUNKED!
Does your engagement ring smell bad? What’s the reason? You wear your engagement ring close to your skin, so it can accumulate dirt, grime, perspiration, and dead skin cells in its inner grooves and crevices. As time passes, you can find some unpleasant odours from a variety of sources, from tarnish to food particles.
On the other hand, your engagement ring may smell bad because of an allergy. In addition, the smell may be caused by your body odour: it’s from a reaction to the oils in your skin. This produces chemicals that have very strong and distinctive odours.Also, your engagement ring can smell metallic if it contains a nickel alloy.
All these things mentioned above can buildup and develop an unpleasant oduor, which, however, can be removed from your engagement ring in just a few simple steps with common household ingredients.
You can prevent the unpleasant smell of your engagement ring by regular cleaning and polishing of the jewellery. Consider washing your, e.g., platinum ring with warm, soapy water. Then, remove the ring from the solution and rinse it well. Carefully dry the ring completely before wearing it.
4. WHY DOES MY ENGAGEMENT RING TURN MY FINGER BLACK? RUMORS DEBUNKED!
Does your gold engagement ring make your finger turn black (or green)? Gold is a soft, inert, elementary metal, meaning it can rarely react with other elements or living tissue. However, it’s not inevitable. Gold used for jewellery isn’t 100% pure: jewellers often mix base metals with gold for to harden it.
If you have an iron deficiency and wear a gold engagement ring consistently, you’ll soon notice a black or dark green mark over the area where gold touches the skin. The reason why this happens isn’t fully explained. Theoretically, it’s assumed that the hemoglobin in the blood migrates toward the gold and causes minor blood vessels to burst in the affected skin, creating a black or dark green bruise-like color.
The most common reason why your finger gets discoloured when wearing a gold engagement ring has to do with “metallic abrasion.” This can be caused by the cosmetics on your skin. Cosmetics are made of compounds that are harder as compared to the gold. When you wear a gold engagement ring, very tiny particles of the metal are being rubbed off by your cosmetics. Tiny particles of metal appear black in colour rather than metallic, so it looks like black dust.
On the other hand, the metal corrosion of your ring can also make your finger get discoloured. Of course, it’s not the gold that corrodes; these are the alloys such as silver and copper that are mixed with the gold that corrode. Moist conditions can make these alloys form dark chemical compounds.
Finally, chlorine in pools or spas can be another reason for discoloured fingers. Don’t wear your engagement ring in the spa or pool so to avoid corrosion.
