White gold jewelry is jewelry made using white gold, that is pretty obvious. White gold, however, is not a natural substance. It's an alloy that is created by fusing together a combination of metals. To be called gold, the metal with the highest concentration has to be pure gold. Having said that, you will never find 24 carat white gold. With 18 carat white gold, 75% of the metal is gold with the remaining 25% any combination of metals. For 9 carat white gold, the gold level is only around 40% - however, no other metal can exceed 40% in the alloy. With 9 carat white gold, you may find a combination of 40% gold, 20% silver, 20% palladium and 20% platinum. since palladium and platinum are more expensive than pure gold, white gold will be more expensive than yellow gold/
To protect your white gold jewelry, and to provide additional "whiteness", a substance known as rhodium is often uses a plating on the finished product. White gold that starts to lose this rhodium plating will start to look more gray than white. The rhodium does act as an effective barrier against many of the problems that face non plated white gold. However, once a small part of the plating has worn away, the door opens for oxidization and other problems.
When it comes to caring for your white gold jewelry, the first piece of advice to offer is to avoid situations where this it may be damaged. Our everyday life involves us in situations that threaten the lifespan of any jewelery. Rings for example are worn all day every day to the point we don't notice they are there, until we remove them. Soem of the every day dangers to our white gold jewelry include:
Household Chemicals
The list of household chemicals is endless and includes items such as laundry detergents and bleaches, kitchen cleaning products, and personal care products such as soaps, shampoos and even makeup and makeup removers. Unfortunately, washing dishes, having a shower amd doing the laundry all place your jewelery at risk.
Outside the home, chemicals including fertilizers, pest and weed sprays, swimming pool cleaners, chlorine and salt just to name a few can also damage your white gold jewelry.
Body Salt
Our bodies contain a lot of salt and some of this is found in our persperation. If your white gold jewelry, for example, a necklace, becomes exposed to this salty fluid it can lead to oxidization in a big way.
Humid Air
Water leads to rust in any product made from iron. White gold jewelry is no different. High humidity levels in the air can lead to problems such as the oxidization of many metals. Copper will turn green; silver a dark gray or black and nickel a dark green to black. Since white gold jewelry is often made from a combination of these metals, each may start to oxidize from the moist air.
Cleaning
Over cleaning jewelery, especially using harsh cleaners and items such as steel wool or a tooth brush can also cause problems. White gold jewelry often has a rhodium plating, this cleaning may remove the plating leave the jewelry exposed to the damaging elements found in your life. Be gentle when cleaning and for expensive pieces, get your jeweler to do it for yuo.
Looking after your white gold jewelry is not difficult. Follow these sensible guidelines and your jewelry will last for decades.
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Visit jewelrywhitegold.net for more information on white gold jewelry, some of the better places to buy it, and hints and tips on how to look after your jewelry
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