Plating of Rhodium:
White gold is almost always rhodium plated. Rhodium is very white, shiny, hard and tarnish proof which makes it one of the best material that can be used for plating. Rhodium is also a very expensive metal, but since plating only requires a small amount of the metal, it would not significantly contribute to the total price of the ring.

Rhodium coating can wear off between 6 months and 5 years depending on the amount of wear the ring is actually exposed. Re-plating the ring with rhodium requires a simple process and normally would not cost a lot of money.

Plating of Two-tone Metal:
Two-tone rings are usually made by two or more strips of yellow gold and white gold giving contrast to the ring, hence a simple yet classy look. Nowadays there are many different ways to create the two-tone contrast on the rings, for example gold plating a platinum strip or plating any metal band with rhodium. For two- tone wedding rings, it is better to avoid white gold with rhodium because to apply rhodium, the gold smith would have to do it by hand with a brush, and it would may result in costly maintenance overtime.

Plating of Platinum:
As discussed earlier, it would be easier to notice when the plating wears thin on white gold compared to when it is on platinum. Hence, if you compare two-tone wedding rings, one with a combination of white gold and yellow gold, the other with a combination of platinum and yellow gold, we would suggest you go with the latter. Though this choice is the more costly one, the ring would require less maintenance and the ring would retain its contrasting color for a longer period of time.

How Long Will the Plating Last?

The plating will probably wear off in 1-5 years depending on how rough you are on the rings and how much rhodium plating is on the ring. All white gold jewelry will require maintenance at one time or another to keep it looking polished and brand new. To have a white gold ring rhodium plated, you’re probably looking at $20-30 for about 0.25-0.50 microns of thickness. If it is a two-tone ring, it has to be applied by hand with a brush rather than immersing the whole ring in the electroplating tank, therefore, for two-tone rings, it will cost more to maintain their white gold appearance. If you want to make a white gold wedding band very durable, we can suggest that you get it plated with a layer of palladium of 1.0-1.5 micron thickness, followed a 2.5-3.0 micron thickness of rhodium plating. This will cost around $100.