Rhodium-plated or gold-plated silver: how each wears

The two finishes

Rhodium-plated gives a bright, cool white. Rhodium is a platinum-group metal, harder than silver and resistant to tarnish, and it is the same finish jewellers use on white gold. It looks like white gold or platinum at a glance.

Gold-plated gives a warm yellow over the same silver underneath, for people who want the gold look at the silver price.

Both are surface finishes over silver. The colour you pick never changes the price.

Why silver is plated at all

Bare silver reacts with the air and dulls to a grey-brown over time — tarnish. A plated layer sits between the silver and the air, so the piece stays bright and needs far less polishing. The plating is doing a real job, not just adding a colour.

How long a finish lasts

Honestly: it depends on the piece and on you.

• Rings wear fastest. A ring is rubbed by everything your hand touches, and the underside of the band goes first.
• Pendants and earrings last far longer, sometimes for years, because almost nothing rubs them.
• Hands that are often in water, soap or sanitiser wear a finish faster than dry ones.

Nobody can promise a number of years, and you should be suspicious of a jeweller who does. What we can tell you is what happens when it wears: the warm or white tone fades at the contact points and the silver shows through. It is a cosmetic change, not damage, and it is fixed by replating.

Polishing, re-plating and what we cover

Polishing is free for as long as you own the piece. Re-plating silver is charged at the cost of the plating — it is inexpensive, and we tell you the price before we start. On gold, re-plating is free for as long as you own the piece. Either way you pay the postage both ways, and the piece comes back looking new. These services are for the original purchaser; the full terms are in Resizing & Care.

Making a finish last

• Put jewellery on last, after perfume, hairspray, lotion and sunscreen.
• Take rings off for washing up, swimming and cleaning. Chlorine and bleach are the worst offenders.
• Take them off for the gym: gripping metal wears plating quickly.
• Wipe with a soft dry cloth after wearing, and store dry, away from other pieces that can scratch them.
• Don't use a silver-polishing cloth or dip on a plated piece. Those remove tarnish by removing a thin layer of metal, and on a plated piece that layer is the plating.

Silver or gold?

Choose silver if you want the largest, best-made piece your budget allows, if the piece is one of several you rotate, or if you are buying a first fine piece and would rather spend on the stone.

Choose gold if you want a metal that never needs replating to keep its colour — solid gold is the same colour all the way through — or if the piece is a marker meant to be worn every day for decades. The karats are compared in 9K, 10K, 14K or 18K gold.

A common and sensible combination is silver with moissanite: it puts the money into a larger, brighter stone and keeps the piece affordable.

Quick answers

Does gold plating wear off?

On a ring, eventually, at the points that rub. On silver we re-plate at the cost of the plating; on gold it is free for as long as you own the piece.

Is rhodium-plated silver the same as white gold?

No. It is silver with the same white finish white gold usually carries.

Will plated silver tarnish?

The plating protects the silver underneath. When it wears thin at a contact point, that spot can dull.

Does the finish change the price?

No. Rhodium-plated and gold-plated silver cost the same.

Can I have any design in silver?

Yes. Every design is offered in silver and in 9K to 18K gold.