blackening/oxidizing white gold

[leah]

Hello! I am making a man's wedding ring and my customer really likes the oxidized silver look but would like something harder wearing. He has asked me about palladium but he requires a rose gold inlay (which I don't have the heat for). So I wondered about oxidizing 18ct white gold. Is it possible using liver of sulphur? I had also heard of black rhodium plating but know little about it. Any advice would be most welcome! Leah

[ps_bond]

One of the main points about gold is its reluctance to react with anything much... LoS isn't likely to have much of an effect on 18k white, there's not much of a silver content to it.
I presume you mean you don't have the heat for palladium?

[leah]

Thanks Peter. I don't have the heat for palladium....I would have to solder the rose gold inlay to the palladium which-to be perfectly honest- terrifies me! I feel more comfortable doing that in gold.

[ps_bond]

Soldering gold to palladium I'd just use gold solder. Try and solder with palladium solder and your inlay will melt.
I see the Johnson Matthey/AOL palladium guide is still available - http://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/media...ion%202011.pdf

Other options on the inlay include to undercut the palladium & set it in that way - or talk to someone who would weld it in place for you.
Someone with a laser (or a PUK I suppose, but I'm biassed )

[Gemsetterchris]

I doubt the undercutting method will work well since the rose gold is going to be too hard.

[ps_bond]

I was thinking undercut the palladium rather than the gold.

[Gemsetterchris]

I was thinking undercut the palladium rather than the gold.

You would do that, but the rose gold will be work hardening too quickly I would have thought unless you keep annealing it & the palladium will be fairly soft.

[Dennis]

Apart from what has been said above, durability and patination are contradictory, because the black will quickly wear away where it is repeatedly touched and rubbed.

As for metals, you can make a narrow rose gold band and then line it with the second metal, by expanding a smaller but wider ring inside it. a ring stretcher woukld be useful for this, but not essential.

If your client really wants a durable black ring, then he should think about black titanium. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bl...w=1338&bih=946 Dennis.