Customer Question:My 18 k white
gold ring which I bought from a reputable jewelry store started turning yellowish
within 9 months of purchase. What is the reason for this? And how can I return
the ring to its original white gold colour?
Response: All white gold jewelry pieces are usually plated
with Palladium/Rhodium (platinum family metals) or with Nickel to produce the
white look of white gold.
White gold is produced by adding nickel or palladium (platinum) alloys to the
regular yellow gold. The more nickel is added to the yellow gold, the whiter
the white gold becomes. Similarly, the more palladium is added to the yellow
gold, the more platinum like look of white gold is achieved.
Analysis of benefits and features of different types of white gold and plating
White gold with nickel content
- 18 k (750) white gold has 75% yellow gold content and the balance is an
alloy of nickel and silver. 18 k or higher yellow gold content is required
for hand crafted pieces, while machine made pieces usually use the harder
14 k white gold, where the yellow gold content is only 58.5% while the balance
is an alloy of the cheaper nickel and silver.
- Due to the higher yellow gold content, 18 k white gold may have a slightly
yellow tinge. 14 k white gold may also have this yellow taint but much less
so. For this reason, white gold is usually plated with palladium/rhodium (platinum)
or with nickel.
Advantages of Palladium/Rhodium plated white gold jewelry
Due to the frequently occurring allergies against nickel, white gold jewelry
is usually plated with the palladium to give the white gold a white platinum
look. To enhance and enlighten the colour, the metal is additionally rhodinized
(coated with a layer of lighter rhodium-platinum)
Disadvantages of Palladium/Rhodium plated white gold jewelry
Palladium/Rhodium plating is not so resistant if the jewelry is subject to a
lot of contact with other materials. In time, this type of plating will gradually
rub off, especially in the case of rings and bangles where body contact and
contact to other items is frequent. The yellowish tinge that may appear on the
jewelry piece is the natural colour of white gold prior to plating.
Advantage of Nickel plated white gold jewelry
Nickel is a medium to hard metal which has a very light white coloration. It
is well suited for plating heavy use jewelry such as rings and bangles. This
type of plating not only makes the jewelry look beautifully white gold like,
but it is also very durable and resistant to contact and scratches.
Disadvantage of Nickel plated white gold jewelry
Some people have allergies against nickel. Contact to nickel may cause an itching
Summary & Suggestions
Purchase nickel-plated white gold for rings, bangles, cuff links which are regularly
used during housework or other heavy duty exposure, and if you are sure not
to be allergic to Nickel
Purchase palladium/rhodium plated white gold for such jewelry such as earrings
which are less exposed to heavy duty contact earrings, brooches, pendants &
necklaces, and tie clips.
If your white gold jewelry shows a yellowish tinge, you can take it to any
jeweller and have him re-plate your jewelry.
- Palladium-plating is usually the cheaper, but less durable alternative.
The plating of a simple white gold ring without gem stones may cost about
EUR 30 – 40. Larger jewelry items or jewelry items with diamonds and
other gem stones may cost more to plate.
- Nickel-plating is significantly more expensive, but nickel-plating is quite
durable and may last for many years.
White gold with palladium content
- 18 k (750) palladium white gold is significantly more expensive than nickel/silver
- 18 k (750) palladium white gold has 75% yellow gold content and the balance
is an alloy of platinum metals.
- 18 k palladium white gold will usually be less white that is have a more
platinum like look than regular white gold with nickel/silver. For this reason,
palladium white gold is usually rhodinized (rhodium plated) to give the white
gold a whiter look.
Diamond Designs & More 18 k white gold jewelry are usually made with a palladium
alloy and then is rhodinized (rhodium plated) to give the white gold a bright
We believe that 18 k white gold with nickel content has several disadvantages
(prone to produce nickel allergies, may have a yellowish tinge which requires
plating, may have to be re-plated regularly by the customer).
Alternatively, Diamond Designs & More also offers pure platinum (< 90%
platinum) jewelry at a reasonable price, but this too needs to be rhodinized
to give it a nicer bright look.
Customer Question:Does Diamond Designs
& More provide Laboratory Certificates for the diamonds used in its jewelry?
The diamonds we sell usually are certified by (in order of international reputation)
Response:Diamond Designs & More will always provide
a Laboratory Certificate from a reputable and independent jewelry appraiser
for diamonds which are 0.5 carat or larger in size. For diamonds which are 0.25
ct or larger but smaller than 0.50 carat in size, a Laboratory Certificate will
be provided against a surcharge if requested by the customer.
- the Gemmology Institute of America (GIA)
- the European Gemmology Laboratory (EGL)
- the American Gemmology Society (AGS)
Customer Question:What are the
competitive advantages of Diamond Designs & More vs city centre store
jewellers and online jewelry sites? How can Diamond Designs & More offer
such high quality diamond gems, and hand crafted jewellery pieces at such
Response:Diamond Designs & More was created to provide
jewelry to and to benefit the immediate circle of friends of the founders, and
their friends. On a word of mouth basis, we have gradually expanded our steady
clientèle to include persons outside our immediate friendship circle.
This does not change our basic objective of providing high quality jewelry at
low prices to our existing clientèle or any of their family or friends.
We try to benefit the customer by providing a lot of value and satisfaction
for the prices that he/she pays, and we try to advise customer about the jewelry
order in such a way that it will definitely fall within his/her budget.
The founders and all their direct partners are committed to charging reasonable
sales margin. We try to pass our low profit margins on to our customers. We
source our diamonds and other gems directly from wholesalers, and our company
structure includes no middle men, no expensive rentals for store outlets, no
advertising other than word of mouth, no sales people working on a provisions
basis, and we have a lot of friends who have been happily assisting us free
of charge in achieving our objectives.
We sell our jewelry on a private basis only to our existing clientèle
and any person recommended by them. Our internet site serves more as an order-assistance
tool rather than a marketing & sales tool.
Our business is based on the idea that satisfied customers recommend us to
their friends, so please remember, if you are a satisfied customer, please mention
us to your friends and family, and we will try to provide them the same level
of satisfaction as we have provided to you.
Customer Question:I found your
internet site by chance while surfing on the internet and am interested in ordering
jewelry from you. I have not been recommended by any of your existing clientèle.
Will you still consider creating diamond jewelry for me?
Response:High quality jewelry business is based
upon a lot of trust between the buyer and the seller. We will sell to interested
strangers who have not been recommended by existing clientèle but the
order size will be restricted. This serves as financial risk protection both
for you and for us. Once we get to know you better, that is once you have placed
several orders with us, and both sides were satisfied with the relationship,
we will cancel the order size restriction.
The initial order size for strangers to the business will be restricted to
EUR 500 order value. Additional orders may not exceed EUR 1000 per order.
We appreciate your understanding and trust!
Customer Question:Your website
suggests that there are only three order delivery dates per year. Can we also
purchase and receive delivery at other than these specified delivery dates,
in urgent cases?
We meet only three times per year at which times the whole logistics apparatus
is set into motion to produce all the orders which have accumulated the since
the last delivery date.
Response:Our business does not operate as a full time
jewelry business. Most of its leading members are professionals who have joined
this partnership on a part time basis. These marketing professionals are bankers,
lawyers, stock exchange operators, IT specialists, architects, journalist, photographers
among other. To ensure high quality workmanship and good material and design
quality, these leading members who maintain the customer relationship are supported
by jewelry consultant specialists, professional gold smiths and design artists.
In exceptional cases, we will provide a further delivery date, if a sufficient
order volume has accumulated.
In all cases, however, we will endeavour to assist the interested customer
in finding a jewelry piece, even if Diamond Designs & More is not the producer
or seller of the jewelry item.
Customer Question:Are you a non-profit
Response:We are profit-oriented, but also charitable,
however with the prime objective to produce hiqh quality jewelry at affordably
prices to achieve a satisfied clientele. All part-time and full time members
of this business share in any profits achieved, but we are committed to distributing
and sharing our profits with charitable institutions, specifically SOS Kinderdorf
which cares for orphaned children around the world.
Customer Question:If I am not satisfied
with the final custom made jewelry item which I ordered can I return the item
to the Sellers for a full refund of the money that I paid?
Response:By law, we are not required to provide a refund
or take back a product which has been uniquely created and custom tailored to
a customers’ specifications.
We are sure that you will be satisfied with our quality of workmanship. We
are highly experienced in producing jewelry pieces from pictures and design
provided to us. You may refer to our extensive show room full of jewelry items
Please keep in mind that hand-crafted pieces do not achieve the same degree
of perfection as machine produced pieces. Also, as our gold smith cannot read
the mind of our customer’s , the final piece may not be exactly what you
imagined it to be but it will have a very close resemblance to the the picture/design
that you provided.
If there is a significant divergence in the final jewelry piece from the design
provided by you we will not hold you liable for the production charges. We will
withdraw the piece for renewed creation.
If the order included diamonds of 0.25 carat or larger or other precious gem
stones of 0.50 carat or larger, you will be required to pay upfront the entire
cost of purchase of such gems, and should you not be satisfied with a jewelry
item, we will provide to you such diamond or precious gem stone as defined above.
Customer Question:Can you also
produce tension-set diamond rings?
Response: No, unfortunately, tension-set jewelry requires
special machinery and a special process to ensure that the diamond is securely
held by the tension of the metal. Only a few companies, like the German jewelry
manufacturer Niesing, produce good quality tension-set diamond rings.
Diamond Designs & More can however produce a tension-set look-alike diamond
ring where from a top view the diamond appears to be almost floating.
Customer Question:Does your web
site offer examples of a design / picture submitted by a customer, and the final
piece produced for the customer?
Response:Yes, for example the snowflake design. Please
refer to item # 59003 to view the picture submitted by the customer and then
to item # 11001 to view the final outcome.
|#59003 (snowflake pendant)
sample picture provided
by the client
||#11001 (snowflake pendant)
final outcome handcrafted by
Diamond Designs & More
The customer had requested a rhodium plated white gold / palladium alloy with
a 0.15 ct diamond (which is much larger than the one in the design submitted).
The final outcome by request of the customer is much larger than the submitted
design and also more refined.