Master Index of Archived Threads


Sodium Hydroxide

themetfairy Jun 15 2010 02:19 PM

I have a two-toned gold ring with diamonds; D-Dad gave it to me for our 25th anniversary, and I wear it as my wedding band. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that one of the diamonds was missing and a couple of others were chipped, so I brought it to the jeweler for repairs. Long and short, the diamonds are now fine, but the contrast between the yellow and white gold has been seriously diminished. The jeweler claims that the ring was cleaned with sodium hydroxide, which he claims is standard in the business. I did some quick Googling, and I see that sodium hydroxide = lye; while I see it listed as a drain cleaner, I haven't found any discussion of it being used as jewelry cleaner. My question is this - I'm wondering/hoping that, over time, the treatment will wear off and the contrast between the yellow and white gold will be restored. Does anyone here know anything about this kind of thing? Thanks.

Rockin' Doc Jun 15 2010 04:28 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

I have a friend that owns a Jewelry store. He custom designs jewelry from scratch and travels to Antwerp Belgium to purchase daimonds for his designs every year. I will try to run this by him in the next day or two to see what he thinks should be done.

themetfairy Jun 15 2010 04:59 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

Thanks RD - I appreciate that!

Rockin' Doc Jun 16 2010 10:49 AM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

Okay, I talked with my jeweler friend, just a few minutes ago, on the way home for lunch. Okay, I may not be totally clear on the exact chemical names of the excepted cleaner solutions for jewelry, so don't quote me on this part. He said that he didn't no why anyone would use sodium hydroxide to clean jewelry, he stated that the more standard solution is sodium triphosphate. He said he would imagine that your jeweler likely used the proper cleaning solution, but then he went on to explain why the "white gold" isn't so white and would look more like the "yellow gold" now. "White" gold isn't normally as white as what we see in jewelry, it has a pale yellow coloration. Jewelery designers treat the white gold with rhodium to give the white gold the brilliant white/silver appearance. He said that the cleaning process likely removed some of the rhodium resulting in a more yellow appearance to the white gold. It can be retreated by a skilled jeweler to restore the original appearance. Basically, the yellow gold must be masked or somehow treated to keep it from being treated with the rhodium. Then the Rhodium must be electroplated on the white gold (or platinum) portion of the ring. Then the masking product must be removed from the yellow gold portion of the ring. He stated that this can be a very tedious and time consuming process if the ring design is elaborate with a lot of mingling of the white and yellow gold. The good news is that the ring can be restored. The bad news is that it may, depending on the intricacy of the ring degign, be an costly process due to the time involved to do the job properly. Unfortunately, he couldn't be more specific since he isn't familiar with the design of your ring. I hope this helps. Good luck.

themetfairy Jun 16 2010 11:32 AM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

Actually, the white gold is very shiny, but the yellow isn't as yellow as it was before, so the contrast between the yellow and white isn't as striking as it had been. I'm wondering whether the geniuses treated the whole thing with rhodium without masking the yellow gold first. My hope is that if it was the result of some kind of rinse, that the crap will eventually wear off over time. In any event, I am not going back to this jeweler. Thanks for checking in with your friend RD - I truly appreciate it!

Ceetar Jun 16 2010 11:54 AM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

Isn't it possible that the Yellow just appears less striking? The eyes are all sorts of funky when it comes to contrast and all that. I wonder if some of the home-cleaning solutions would work if it was a treatment of somesort? (I googled some of them yesterday, everything from soaking in vodka to toothbrush and toothpaste) Sounds like it might be something that a second jeweler needs to take a look at though.

themetfairy Jun 16 2010 12:20 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

I suppose it's possible Ceetar, but I don't think it's likely. When I was at the gym after picking up the ring, a friend held it up against a gold ring of her own. The yellow gold on my ring was substantially lighter in color than her ring.

metsmarathon Jun 16 2010 01:32 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

maybe its not really made of gold, but of base metals made to look like gold. in trying to clean it, the jeweler discovered the truth, but in service to ddad, has done its best to continue the coverup. we government types are good at our conspiracies.

themetfairy Jun 16 2010 01:58 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

The ring wasn't purchased from this jeweler. If he had half a brain in his head, he would have told me what you theorized ;)

Ashie62 Jun 16 2010 05:09 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

It looks beautiful on you.

Kong76 Jun 16 2010 05:31 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

I always thought all gold is really yellow and there's no such thing 'actual' white gold. I wear a white gold wedding band but it is supposed to be yellow gold mixed with palladium to make it white (or silvery, really). It's more likely nickle ac- cording to wiki and sales bitch lied or was misinformed ... [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_gold

Kong76 Jun 16 2010 05:41 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

KB corrects me and says the ring is supposed to be gold and platinum ... sorry, dear lol.

themetfairy Jun 16 2010 07:02 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

[quote="Ashie62":32kl2z3k]It looks beautiful on you.[/quote:32kl2z3k] Thank you!

themetfairy Jun 16 2010 07:05 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

[quote="Kong76"]I always thought all gold is really yellow and there's no such thing 'actual' white gold. I wear a white gold wedding band but it is supposed to be yellow gold mixed with palladium to make it white (or silvery, really). It's more likely nickle ac- cording to wiki and sales bitch lied or was misinformed ... [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_gold

Whatever the technicalities are, the contrast was a nice effect that went with pretty much anything I wore.

Kong76 Jun 16 2010 07:06 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

I do research, and get ignored. Sucks being on the C list.

themetfairy Jun 16 2010 07:12 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

It's not a question of being ignored. It's a question that I'd be more interested in figuring out what turns yellow gold less yellow and how one can reverse that.

Kong76 Jun 16 2010 07:14 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

We cross posted, I was jealous you liked Ashie more than me.

themetfairy Jun 16 2010 07:17 PM Re: Sodium Hydroxide

You know that's not the case. But sheesh - if someone pays me a nice compliment, I'm going to want to acknowledge it.