Why does your white gold turn yellow? And how to fix it?

Is your white gold jewelry slowly fading to a yellowing shine?

Don't stress. It's not that your sebum or sweat is staining it, nor is it because you got a low quality piece of bling.

If you’ve been wondering if white gold can turn yellow or what makes white gold turn yellow, you're not alone!

TLDR; it's normal, because gold is not white, but a golden color.

If you’re wondering why your white gold wedding band or the prongs of your engagement ring are turning yellow, keep reading for the longform answer.

Just like how there are many shades of white, white gold can have different colors. The color of white gold depends on the alloy, both which other metals it’s mixed with, and how many of these other metals are used. 

For white gold as well as yellow gold and rose gold, 14 karat gold tends to be less golden in color than 18 karat gold, since it has a lower gold content. 

When someone says white gold fades or tarnishes, they’re most likely referring to the rhodium plating fading to reveal the white gold underneath. And this white gold can look yellow - which is the reason why your jewelry was rhodium plated in the first place. 

White gold itself does not change color, and the color will remain the same. 

Most white gold jewelry is rhodium plated. As the rhodium plating is only a thin top layer, the rhodium plating tends to fade over time. This is especially true around prongs and corners, which get the most wear and tear.

Since the top layer has eroded, there’s no way to clean white gold that has turned yellow back to white gold. In fact, by obsessively cleaning and polishing it you would remove more of the rhodium plating, and reveal even more of the underlying yellow toned gold. 

White gold doesn’t turn yellow because of oxidation and tarnish. It turns yellow because that’s its natural color.

So, it’s not ‘bad’ at all if white gold turns yellow! In fact, some people are loving this natural look more.

Bad news is: you can’t prevent white gold from turning yellow. The breakdown process is normal and inevitable. But you can slow down its process by taking good care of your jewelry. Try to avoid getting your white gold jewelry wet, soapy or dirty. Take it off before showering, swimming or splashing around in the ocean. Or you can opt for an alloy that’s less yellow to begin with. 

Whether or not white gold turns yellow depends on the base alloy, so the gold used underneath the rhodium plating. White gold itself does not change color, and the color will remain the same. So to prevent white gold changing color, choose a white gold alloy that's more white than yellow to begin with, and that does not need to be rhodium plated. 

The first thing to do is ask your jeweler what kind of alloy they use for their white gold. If it’s a silver-based alloy, your jewelry will likely turn yellow over time. If it’s a nickel-based alloy, be aware it may trigger allergies. If it’s a palladium-based alloy, your white gold is unlikely to turn yellow. 

In case you’re wondering whether you can turn yellow gold into white gold, or whether you can change white gold to yellow gold, the answer lies in the plating.

It is possible to add a yellow gold, rose gold or rhodium plating to any piece of jewelry you already own, unless there are very fragile gemstones that may not be able to withstand the electroplating process.

Keep in mind however, that over time the plating will wear off, and that this is not a permanent solution. 

Creating white gold jewelry involves either additional steps (rhodium plating) or more expensive metals (palladium) that may be harder to work with. If your white gold jewelry contains palladium, remember palladium is a rare metal, and with a price tag. More expensive than a silver or nickel based alloy. Moreover, palladium is harder to work with than gold, so it’s more labor intensive. That’s why white gold is more expensive than yellow gold.

If your white gold is rhodium plated, there’s additional labor and materials involved in the rhodium plating process.

You can expect to pay more for a white gold ring than a yellow gold ring of the same quality. 

We partner with 25 artisanal indigenous women miners in Indonesian Borneo. We pay them a premium for their pledge against the use of mercury and cyanide. Plus, the miners operate legally without deforestation.

These women are our partners, not our employees - meaning they can make more profit for themselves on top of a stable income. In fact, studies by Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta, the University of British Columbia and Canadian International Resources and Development Institute found this partnership has created access to finance, increased income and more gender equality, women’s leadership and governance.

In the process, your gold jewelry avoided releasing an estimated 44 kg of mercury into the world.

White gold is a popular choice of metal for engagement or wedding rings:

Are you looking to get that white metal glow back? This is not something you can fix at home. There's no other way around it - your white gold jewelry will have to be re-plated to get that platinum shine again. It's not a complicated process and your local jeweler should be able to do it for you, either in-house or at one of their partners.

If you purchased your ring from us, you're welcome to send it back and we'll gladly dip that piece in rhodium for you. In fact, we've done it for many of our clients. You can purchase a rhodium plating here.