The word “rhodium” comes from the name of another precious metal: rhodium (rarer and more expensive than gold).
Rhodium plating is a plating process used in jewelry that consists of electroplating 925 silver jewelry (also known as sterling silver) with rhodium to maintain or restore the jewelry’s shine.
This makes rhodium-plated silver a more expensive precious material than conventional 925 silver.
Example of rhodium-plated silver jewellery :
The designers SPARK, Olivier LAFOND (L by L’avare) French designer, CANYON use this process…
Olivier LAFOND silver bracelet
Usefulness: avoids oxidation of the jewellery
Covering silver jewellery with rhodium is mainly to prevent oxidation of the silver.
Indeed, without rhodium plating, the surface of a classic silver jewel oxidizes in the air and in contact with the skin. With time you have probably already observed this phenomenon appearing on your silver necklaces and bracelets or on your rings: the jewels become dull and take on a blackened aspect with dark spots.
The rhodium protects the silver and even makes it a little whiter and shinier, bringing out the brilliance of the stones adorning your jewel.
Colour: whiter than pure silver
In terms of colour, a piece of rhodium-plated silver jewellery is very similar to a piece of white gold jewellery, but it can also be combined with other components to obtain other shades…
How do I remove oxidation from non-rhodium-plated silver jewellery?
When a silver jewel is not rhodium plated, you must maintain it from time to time: a silver jewel oxidizes naturally and blackens according to the frequency of its use, the contacts with the skin, the air, water or perfume. This is obvious for people who wear a silver chain or bracelet every day.
There are several ways to avoid the phenomenon or remove the traces of oxidation, the most effective is to store them in a small airtight bag or in tissue paper: this will delay the maximum blackening when you do not wear the jewelry.
To remove oxidation, there are many grandmotherly recipes (ash, toothpaste, etc …) more or less effective. There are also many product lines to be careful with, as not all of them are safe for the stones, pearls and plating that make up your jewelry.
Other cleaning techniques can also be dangerous for the stones or amber adorning your silver jewelry such as ultrasonic baths which can crack them.
We recommend the Connoisseur dry wipes, which are very effective and respectful of amber, precious metals and Swarovski crystals. We will send you a free sample on request.
What is rhodium?
Source: Wikipedia: Rhodium is a metal close to platinum that is very rare and therefore very expensive. Discovered by William Hyde Wollaston in 1803 in South Africa, it is also found in mines in the Urals and Ontario. It is used in jewellery, but also in the automotive industry, orthodontics, projector mirrors and photography. To meet environmental standards, it is used in particular to reduce toxic emissions in catalysts, as it has the same properties as platinum.
The increasing demand explains its high and rising price. Its name comes from the Greek “Rhodon” which means pink, however when it is applied to silver jewellery during the rhodium plating process, it gives it a slightly whiter and brighter colour. As we have already mentioned, once plated on your rings, necklaces and bracelets, it avoids oxidation and blackening of the latter.
Rhodium-plated silver and Swarovski crystal Earrings by SPARK
Is a silver jewel covered with Rhodium more expensive?
The chemical process used to cover solid silver is called electrolysis, it allows the plating of precious metal: the rhodium atoms are chemically fixed on those of silver thanks to the passage of a current in the jewel.
This process allows to deposit on the surface a very regular and very resistant layer for small thicknesses from 1 to 5 microns. The quality of the rhodium plating and its resistance to rubbing obviously depend on the thickness deposited, but from 1 to 5 microns one arrives at a very good compromise between resistance and price by limiting the additional cost on the jewel. At the end of 2020, a kilo of Rhodium was worth about €600,000 compared to €46,000 per kilo of gold and €700 per kilo of silver. We can see that its price is more than 10 times that of gold and not far from 100 times that of silver. For a ring, count between 5 and 15 € more according to the thickness.
How to differentiate 100% silver jewellery from silver-plated jewellery?
To help you differentiate between silver and silver-plated metals, you can look for the existence of a hallmark on the jewellery; manufacturers of silverware, products made of noble metals such as solid silver, are obliged to affix a hallmark to their products, which makes it very easy to differentiate between different qualities of metals.
Each shape of the hallmark indicates the amount of noble metal in carats or thousandths.
For example, for the silver 925 thousandth the mark represents the head of minerva.
The punches are generally present inside the rings, on the clasps of the chains or behind the pendants…
To see all our Rhodium silver jewellery click here
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