I was recently given a ring as a 21st birthday present/engagement
ring. A sand blasted silver ring with a diamond inset. I wore it for a
few days, and it made my finger green. As i have another ring that
does this with a lot of Nickle in it, i thought the silver had been
stamped incorrectly (millenium sterling silver stamp) but was assured
by the designer that this was sterling silver. Please understand that
i have about 60 silver rings, of which none, but 1 makes my finger
turn green so i don’t think it is a reaction to the silver. I waited
for another month thinking it might be the polish to no avail. I took
it back to the shop and without my asking they coated the ring in
Rhodim plating and have since asked me to pay an extra �60. I do not
know what Rhodium is, whether this ring should have done this in the
first place, and whether �200 is a lot for this type of ring, let
alone whether i should pay an extra �60 for something i neaver asked
for. The whole saga has gone on now for neary 4 months. Please tell me
what Rodium is, and what your opinion on this is. Thanks
Maverick, I am a chemist by trade. Rhodium is a rare member of the
platinum metals group. It is one of the most corrosion resistant
metals known, even more so than gold, as it better resists attack
from aqua regia (“royal water”, an acid mixture that dissolves gold).
Rhodium has an appearnace much like silver, but with much superior
corrosion resistance. Some time ago, I saw advertisements on the
internet for this metal for around $2000 - $2500 /troy ounce, so
obviously it isn’t cheap. Even a thin plating is rather costly. It
would seem that maybe a white gold plating may have been adequate?
Blaine Buckman
Well they did the correct thing jewelry wise by using rhodium, but
should have asked you if you were willing to pay extra for the ring as
a common courtesy. However rhodium is extremely expensive and the
charge might be a little high it is with a normal range. Many
jewelers just fix the problem without calling the customer and expect
the customer to pay the bill. This is not a large sum of money. My
advise is to pay the bill and enjoy your ring, this should solve your
problem.
Warren
Hi Maverick, Rhodium is a precious metal that is plated to prevent the
tarnish on silver. Although it is expensive, the effort of the
jeweller is by far the biggest cost.
The shop should have definitely asked your permission before charging
you 60 pounds.
It is possible that the original silver may have contained nickel as
an alloy or electroplated with nickel which would cause the green
colour.
I would further recommend that you should get the ring sent to an
assay office and get the purity verified.
Regards,
Shishir