Does anyone know of an easy way to distinguish white gold from
platinum? or is it time for me to purchase some test kits. I
thought platinum was much more durable, however I have a ring
stamped 18k and plat which needs retipping. The ring does not
appear to be that old, but the white prongs are severly worn.
Thanks for any help!
Sharon Z.
Once you are around the two for a little while side by side it
is usually not to difficult to tell them apart. For one platinum
is a lot heavier than 14 or 18 and has a more grey color to it.
It also “feels” much different when you work with it. Like how a
graver,saw blade or file cuts thruogh it. any time I have to work
very close to stones, tipping or repair work I use 19k white weld
or one of the special lower K platinum solders or you run the
chance of burning the stones up from the high heat tha it take to
flow pure plat.
Protect most of the piece with boric acid and try to oxidize the
bare section or shave a bit off (doesn’t have to be much more
than a filing) and try to melt it with a gentle flame. Remove
stones when retipping platinum.
Platinum resists filing and abrasion more than gold alloys- you
may, with a bit of practice, feel the difference between the
materials. Platinum is also much harder to finish- take it to the
polishing wheel and use some white diamond on it. Gold alloys
will quickly repolish- platinum required a lot more preparation.
Rick
Richard D. Hamilton, Jr
http://www.rick-hamilton.com
@rick_hamilton
a very easy way to tell w/gold from Platinum is simply by
shaving a small sliver from a inconspicoius area with your graver
and then try to melt it. If it balls up it is white gold, if it
glows really bright it is Platinum. When re-tipping a platinum
prong ( re- tipping implies that the stone is still in the
setting) you need to use solder…Gold solder. The temperatures
required to melt platinum solder, will be more than the stone can
take. Melt a small amount of 14K easy white solder on top of the
worn prongs, than solder a small piece of platinum wire to that
to create your Platinum tip. Match the prongs by filing and
finishing as usual. For more tips on repairing, fabricating or
casting Platinum call the Platinum Guild hotline at
(714)760-8882 Jurgen J. Maerz, Mgr of Tech. Education, Platinum
Guild International USA