Almost all white gold jewellery is rhodium plated to give the jewellery a bright, lustrous white finish. Because gold is naturally a yellow metal (unlike, say platinum), even when it is alloyed to turn it white, it is never a ‘pure’ white. Also, there are different qualities of white gold alloys – those that have a high palladium content will be a truer white, whereas inferior alloys may be a more yellow colour, and will need re-plating more frequently.

Rhodium plating is a process that involves coating a fine layer of rhodium over white gold, platinum, and silver rings and jewellery. Rhodium plating produces a brilliant finish that increases brightness, durability and shine. The natural colour of white gold has a yellow tinge, as it is an alloy of pure yellow gold. Therefore almost all white gold jewellery is rhodium plated to give it a bright white, lustrous finish.

Rhodium is a pure silver-white element which is a member of the platinum group, alongside. It is a precious metal that is actually rarer and more expensive than platinum, but rhodium plated gold is a cheaper option to platinum.

On event days, we endeavour to do this whilst you wait; otherwise we rhodium plate two or three times a week, so depending on when you bring your item in, it would typically take up to three days.

Our prices for rhodium plating are generally £25 for 1 item (most rings and other small items of jewellery), £45 for 2 items and £60 for 3 items. We sometimes offer promotions and hold special events. To find out more, visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/alicia.mai.gallery or contact us at info@aliciamai.com.

Our rhodium plating service is a five-stage process:

First, we polish the item of jewellery to a brilliant shine, removing all scratches and traces of the old rhodium plating. After the polish has been completed, we then immerse the jewellery in an ultrasonic tank to remove all traces of polishing compound and dirt. Next is submersion in an electrolysis salts tank to remove grease and finger prints which can show as dark patches on your jewellery if not removed, and then to a de-ionised water tank to remove the salts.

Now the piece of jewellery is thoroughly cleaned we add the all-important coat of rhodium plating restoring your jewellery to the day that it was purchased.

Since it is a plating, through everyday wear then it will rub off in time.  The length of time it takes to do this very much depends on the amount and type of wear to which the item is subjected; as a general rule we recommend re-plating at least every six months to keep your jewellery looking pristine.

Under normal wear, there is usually no tarnishing; however, occasionally certain types of medication, or particular perfumes, may cause a tarnishing effect on precious metals and rhodium is no exception. However these instances are quite rare.

We are able to plate yellow gold rings, but it is important to bear in mind that the rhodium is only a plating and will wear off in time; with white gold rings (that are white underneath), when the rhodium wears it is far less noticeable than with yellow gold rings.  Yellow gold rings will therefore need re-plating more frequently.

We are unable to rhodium plate costume jewellery as base metals contaminate our rhodium plating tanks. We are therefore only able to rhodium plate silver and gold jewellery.

We are able to rhodium plate earrings and pendants, both white and yellow gold. Yellow gold jewellery that does not receive a great deal of hard wear is fine to be rhodium plated, and unlike yellow gold rings, these items do not need frequently re-plating.

No, rhodium plating is nickel-free.

No, rhodium plating is not an invasive process, and has no adverse effect on most gemstones. However we would not recommend rhodium plating set with more organic gemstones such as opal.