Rhodium Plating & Dipping Jewelry

Gold is naturally a golden color. In jewelry-making, we often like to set diamonds and gemstones in white metals such platinum. In the 20th century, metallurgist developed alloy of gold, which appears white as a platinum alternative. White gold has more nickel, silver, and/or palladium to tone down the yellow. However, as white as it appears, the yellows do shine through. The final step after polishing white gold is to electroplate a thin layer of rhodium metal over the white gold. This process is commonly known as dipping because the ring or piece of jewelry is dipped into a rhodium solution. With wear, the plating does wear off. After a white gold piece is plated, it pops white and shiny. We can also plate yellow gold piece to make them white (temporary at least).