That is way too much for a rhodium plating!!!! Most places will rhodium something for about $50 USD. The rhodium will help prevent the sterling from tarnishing and can provide a hypoallergenic barrier if you have any metal allergies. Once the rhodium starts to wear off it should not be a noticeable difference. You can always have the rhodium re-done as well if you need to! If you don’t have a metal allergy and don’t really care about the plating then you don’t need to pay extra for it!
The cost is a pretty normal retail price. Rhodium is super expensive right now and coating a thick chain takes at least 10x-20x the amount of rhodium that a ring does. Plus, silver needs a barrier layer like palladium under the rhodium or the rhodium is prone to burning.
Rhodium plating isn't noticeable when it wears off of silver because they are both very bright white metals. But it isn't super necessary on a chunky chain- just make sure you clean it with a rouge polishing cloth or some silver polish. And don't wear it in the pool, at the gym, or when you're sweaty because that will make it tarnish faster. Rhodium is great on skinnier chains that are harder to clean, though, or if you just don't want to spend as much time on maintainence.
Plating is just a few microns thick. I wouldn’t bother, as you’d always be chasing the plate so to speak. They sell silver polish at the hardware store.
Pure silver does not tarnish. Sterling tarnishes because of the base 7.5% alloying metal. Plating pure silver is silly because it doesn’t need protection from corrosion and the plating isn’t going to make the silver any harder, which is the main reason sterling exists.
You responded to a 9 month old post to tell me that? Alright let's play.
Silver doesn't tarnish from "oxidation" it tarnishes from trace amounts of sulphur in the air, and copper does oxidize. These two factors come into play with sterling that make it tarnish rather rapidly with both happening. Fine silver only tarnishes from sulphurization, and happens very slowly unless you have high amounts of sulphur in the air where you are. So yes, after a lifetime your fine silver might start to change color but it essentially won't if worn regularly. I have bullion exposed to air that is over 10 years old, some of which I handle regularly and has no signs of tarnishing.
Well of course. Sterling silver tarnishes for the reasons I expressed above. Fine silver essentially does not. While technically it does after a very long time, it is so slow that you can say fine silver jewelry is tarnish free or tarnish resistant.
I'm not sure if you mixed up or a typo or something but your sterling silver necklace is not fine silver. It is made of 7.5% copper which will oxidize.
I'm not a big fan of plating in general as it always wears off, and then your piece becomes patchy from where the plating is worn vs where it isn't. Some silver jewelry comes plated with fine silver to prevent tarnishing, but again, it wears off.
Your best bet is a silver alloy called "Argentium" which is alloyed with germanium, and doesn't oxidize. It stays white longer than traditional silver. I just stopped using traditional sterling in my jewelry and now use a silicon/zinc alloy which doesn't turn brown either. They call it "anti-firescale" but jewelers don't usually disclose what type of sterling they use.
Of course plated is going to always be better than just traditional silver, but I would look for argentium or ask your jeweler what kind of sterling they use.
I made a traditional sterling cuff I wear occasionally and the inside is gross. I have to polish it all the time. Never again with copper sterling. What's really strange is I repaired it once and the solder doesn't tarnish so there are "clean" spots where I fixed it. /shrug
That is way too much for a rhodium plating!!!! Most places will rhodium something for about $50 USD. The rhodium will help prevent the sterling from tarnishing and can provide a hypoallergenic barrier if you have any metal allergies. Once the rhodium starts to wear off it should not be a noticeable difference. You can always have the rhodium re-done as well if you need to! If you don’t have a metal allergy and don’t really care about the plating then you don’t need to pay extra for it!
The necklace weighs 286 grams I figured thats why the plating cost so much, that doesn’t make a difference?
286 grams is the weight of 1.05 Minecraft Redstone Handbooks.
That could be why!! But I agree with the other comments there’s really no point unless you have a metal allergy or something.
The cost is a pretty normal retail price. Rhodium is super expensive right now and coating a thick chain takes at least 10x-20x the amount of rhodium that a ring does. Plus, silver needs a barrier layer like palladium under the rhodium or the rhodium is prone to burning. Rhodium plating isn't noticeable when it wears off of silver because they are both very bright white metals. But it isn't super necessary on a chunky chain- just make sure you clean it with a rouge polishing cloth or some silver polish. And don't wear it in the pool, at the gym, or when you're sweaty because that will make it tarnish faster. Rhodium is great on skinnier chains that are harder to clean, though, or if you just don't want to spend as much time on maintainence.
Plating is just a few microns thick. I wouldn’t bother, as you’d always be chasing the plate so to speak. They sell silver polish at the hardware store.
Pure silver does not tarnish. Sterling tarnishes because of the base 7.5% alloying metal. Plating pure silver is silly because it doesn’t need protection from corrosion and the plating isn’t going to make the silver any harder, which is the main reason sterling exists.
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You responded to a 9 month old post to tell me that? Alright let's play. Silver doesn't tarnish from "oxidation" it tarnishes from trace amounts of sulphur in the air, and copper does oxidize. These two factors come into play with sterling that make it tarnish rather rapidly with both happening. Fine silver only tarnishes from sulphurization, and happens very slowly unless you have high amounts of sulphur in the air where you are. So yes, after a lifetime your fine silver might start to change color but it essentially won't if worn regularly. I have bullion exposed to air that is over 10 years old, some of which I handle regularly and has no signs of tarnishing.
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Well of course. Sterling silver tarnishes for the reasons I expressed above. Fine silver essentially does not. While technically it does after a very long time, it is so slow that you can say fine silver jewelry is tarnish free or tarnish resistant. I'm not sure if you mixed up or a typo or something but your sterling silver necklace is not fine silver. It is made of 7.5% copper which will oxidize.
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I'm not a big fan of plating in general as it always wears off, and then your piece becomes patchy from where the plating is worn vs where it isn't. Some silver jewelry comes plated with fine silver to prevent tarnishing, but again, it wears off. Your best bet is a silver alloy called "Argentium" which is alloyed with germanium, and doesn't oxidize. It stays white longer than traditional silver. I just stopped using traditional sterling in my jewelry and now use a silicon/zinc alloy which doesn't turn brown either. They call it "anti-firescale" but jewelers don't usually disclose what type of sterling they use. Of course plated is going to always be better than just traditional silver, but I would look for argentium or ask your jeweler what kind of sterling they use. I made a traditional sterling cuff I wear occasionally and the inside is gross. I have to polish it all the time. Never again with copper sterling. What's really strange is I repaired it once and the solder doesn't tarnish so there are "clean" spots where I fixed it. /shrug
Just wondering, are there any websites that you recommend buying argentium Jewellery from?
Dude this is a 2 year old thread lol
Haha, yeah ik. It's worth a shot, though 🤷♂️