White Gold durability 14K vs 18K

Hi all,

I was recently talking to a custom jewelry designer and he recommend that I
should go with 14K rather than 18K gold. In his opinion 14K casts cleaner
and has a much less chance of splitting under intense use.

This is for an engagement ring for my GF. She is an office worker so the
ring will be for daily wear.

From what I read online, 18K should be of sufficent strength... is the
designer being overly cautious?

I know my GF would prefer 18K rather than 14K.

I also understand 14K is whiter due to the alloys and stronger too - but is
it THAT much stronger?

Thanks!

On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 08:16:25 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Spam Catcher
wrote:

Hi all,

I was recently talking to a custom jewelry designer and he recommend that I
should go with 14K rather than 18K gold. In his opinion 14K casts cleaner
and has a much less chance of splitting under intense use.

This is for an engagement ring for my GF. She is an office worker so the
ring will be for daily wear.

From what I read online, 18K should be of sufficent strength... is the
designer being overly cautious?

I know my GF would prefer 18K rather than 14K.

I also understand 14K is whiter due to the alloys and stronger too - but is
it THAT much stronger?

Thanks!

Boy, theres a can of worms. Or rather, conflicting opinions depending on whom
you talk to.

Personally, I'd say go with the 18K, especially if your GF would prefer it.

First, understand that there are MANY different formulations/alloys of white
gold, both in 14K and 18K. They differ a good deal in castability, hardness,
and color.

So the exact answer depends much on just which version of white gold, in either
karat, your designer is using.

Some of the higher nickel, very white color, 18K alloys are quite difficult to
work, being quite literally, harder than some steels (mild steel, not tool
steel, but still...) These are very durable alloys, but difficult to work. I
know a few stone setters who literally turn down some types of stone setting
work in these alloys.

In general, because of it's greater density, I'd say 18K white gold is likely to
be more resistant to long term wear and tear, and will last longer than 14K, but
the difference is probably not great. This tends to be the reverse of the
situation with yellow gold alloys, where 18K yellow gold tends to be softer. It
doesn't automatically wear out more quickly, but it IS softer than 14K yellow
gold. But with white golds, the higher karat alloys tend to be harder and at
least equally, if not more, durable. Even greater durability (resistance to
wear and tear) can be had if using the palladium based white golds, but these
have the problem of having an off white, almost brownish tinged color, rather
than being a decent white color. Rhodium plating takes care of that, but may
need to be redone now and then. These, however, despite being more resistant to
abrasion and wear, are also reasonably soft and easy to work. Theiir other
downside, though, is that they are substantially more difficult to cast well,
especially for smaller shops that may not have as much experience in palladium
white golds, or may not have higher tech casting setups. So to cast this
alloys, some jewelers will have to use a casting service, rather than doing it
themselves.

The `14K white golds, especially the most commonly used alloys, are indeed
somewhat easier to cast without porosity problems, making the job of making a
ring easier on the goldsmith.

By the way, the bit about "splitting" under intense use is silly. None of these
metals, if properly made, should be splitting or cracking from the way the ring
is worn and used. The key is properly made. And that applies to all karats and
versions of white gold. That is easier to do, perhaps, with "standard" 14K
alloys than with some of the 18K alloys, but still...

If you find that you'd prefer 18K white gold, and your designer is reluctant to
use it, perhaps it's simply because the designer doesn't have as much experience
with it, and is less sure of how to work it. In that case, have him or her ask
for advice, either here or on the Ganoksin.com's Orchid list (grin). Or you
might ask other designers.

You might also wish to consider the use of platinum, rather than white gold at
all. If your aim is a ring that will last the longest, then a ring made of
platinum might be able to last the rest of your life. Some depends, as with
white golds, on how it's made. Platinum work needs more skill than white gold
work. Fabricated or forged metal will be harder and more durable than cast. But
in general, platinum resists wear and tear much better than gold. It gets
scratched and dented easily enough, but the metal does not get abraded away as
quickly, so it doesn't actually wear out as fast. And the color is wonderful
compared to white golds. None of that commonly seen faintly yellow dingyness
that many white golds are prone to.

Hope that helps.

Peter Rowe

"Peter W.. Rowe," wrote in
:

In general, because of it's greater density, I'd say 18K white gold is
likely to be more resistant to long term wear and tear, and will last
longer than 14K, but the difference is probably not great. This tends
to be the reverse of the situation with yellow gold alloys, where 18K
yellow gold tends to be softer. It doesn't automatically wear out
more quickly, but it IS softer than 14K yellow gold. But with white
golds, the higher karat alloys tend to be harder and at least equally,
if not more, durable. Even greater durability (resistance to wear and
tear) can be had if using the palladium based white golds, but these
have the problem of having an off white, almost brownish tinged color,
rather than being a decent white color.

Interesting, so even with the additional gold content of 18K gold, it's
more durable? Shouldn't the gold content make it softer and easier to wear
out?

I guess it comes down to personal preference huh? I'll take a look athte
Palladium based white golds ... sounds like an interesting option. My GF
does prefer platinum, and having a psuedo-platinum white gold might be a
goodl compromise :-)

On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 20:36:38 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Spam Catcher
wrote:

"Peter W.. Rowe," wrote in
m:

In general, because of it's greater density, I'd say 18K white gold is
likely to be more resistant to long term wear and tear, and will last
longer than 14K, but the difference is probably not great. This tends
to be the reverse of the situation with yellow gold alloys, where 18K
yellow gold tends to be softer. It doesn't automatically wear out
more quickly, but it IS softer than 14K yellow gold. But with white
golds, the higher karat alloys tend to be harder and at least equally,
if not more, durable. Even greater durability (resistance to wear and
tear) can be had if using the palladium based white golds, but these
have the problem of having an off white, almost brownish tinged color,
rather than being a decent white color.

Interesting, so even with the additional gold content of 18K gold, it's
more durable? Shouldn't the gold content make it softer and easier to wear
out?


Softness makes gold (pure gold) easy to dent and bend, but it's actually
surprisingly tough. The density of the stuff comes into play here, I think. But
in general, metalurgy can be just plain weird sometimes. You'd think the higher
gold content would also make 18K white golds less white, and indeed, some of
them aren't very white. But neither are some of the 14K white golds. And of
all of the white golds, the very hardest and whitest of them are the high nickel
content 18K white golds. The somewhat similar 14K alloys are almost as white,
and almost as hard, but are less strong, being more prone to cracking. Makes
little sense when you think in just linear terms of amount of yellow soft gold
versus amount of hard white metal, but there you are. Another example of how
weird this can be to understand sometimes is the relationship with gold and
silver. You'd think that silver, because it's by far the whitest in color of
all the metals (Aluminum is second, but not close), would make a very white gold
when mixed with gold. But it does not. It takes a lot of silver to bleach out
the yellow color of gold, but only a small amount of nickel. And aluminum?
sheesh. mix that with gold in an 18K alloy and what you get, if you can get
them to mix at all, is bright purple in color, and brittle as glass (virtually
unworkable, but very pretty)

I guess it comes down to personal preference huh? I'll take a look athte
Palladium based white golds ... sounds like an interesting option. My GF
does prefer platinum, and having a psuedo-platinum white gold might be a
goodl compromise :-)

I happen to like the palladium white golds. Not every does, since the color can
be decidely off white. But they're popular enough in europe (where,
incidentally, nickel based white golds aren't legel, due to concerns, perhaps
overblown, about nickle noxicity)

And you might also seriously consider platinum itself. It's more costly,
indeed, than is white gold, but it last sufficiently longer that you get your
money's worth with the metal. Wonderful feel, color, and durability. it Does
need to be made well. There are many styles of rings being sold out there today
which look wonderful, but won't last as long as expected. Be especially wary of
anything with "invisible set" diamonds, or simply covered all over with way too
many tiny diamonds. Some of these, in order to set the stones, have been
literally drilled to pieces, leaving the ring with not quite enough overall
strength. Just because a piece of jewelry can be made and is offered for sale,
does not mean it's an intellegent design that will give long and satisfactory
service. (That applies to all metals, not just platinum. And frankly, it
applies to almost anything one could buy out there, not just jewelry.)

Peter

Spam Catcher wrote:
Hi all,

I was recently talking to a custom jewelry designer and he recommend that I
should go with 14K rather than 18K gold. In his opinion 14K casts cleaner
and has a much less chance of splitting under intense use.

This is for an engagement ring for my GF. She is an office worker so the
ring will be for daily wear.

From what I read online, 18K should be of sufficent strength... is the
designer being overly cautious?

I know my GF would prefer 18K rather than 14K.

I also understand 14K is whiter due to the alloys and stronger too - but is
it THAT much stronger?

Thanks!

Have you considered having the ring made in palladium? Its very white
and considerably cheaper than platinum, which it resembles very much in
appearance, being a member of the same family of metals. Here in UK its
not yet recognised as a precious metal, but I've been informed that this
is likely to change in 2008 when the Hallmarking Act is changed.

--
Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)