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Rhodium plate on white gold: why the ring turns yellow
White gold is gold with a thin rhodium coat so it looks bright white. The plate wears. The shop pays the karat, not the costume.
White gold is not a different metal from yellow gold. It is gold mixed with white metals, then usually coated with rhodium so it looks bright white.
Rhodium is a platinum-group metal. It is hard, very white, and expensive by the ounce. Jewelers use a thin plate of it. The plate is not the ring.
Why old white gold looks yellow
The plate wears. High spots on a wedding band go first. The yellow gold alloy shows through in patches. That is wear, not a fake, and not the shop “taking the white off.”
A shop that tests in front of you is checking karat, not the color of the costume. Weigh and test. XRF, acid, Sigma. 10k / 14k / 18k.
What the shop pays
The gold. The rhodium layer is too thin to be a bid. Replating is a jewelry-counter service you pay for if you want the ring white again. It is not part of a melt number.
White gold is not platinum
Platinum is a different metal with a different spot price and a different test. Color will lie to you. A magnet and a tester will not. White gold vs platinum. Filled vs plated vs solid.
Tungsten and ceramic wedding bands are not precious. They crash the same Saturday.
What to read next
Broken chains and class rings. What a hallmark is. Diamonds at a coin shop.
Continue in the coin and money library. Related visitor guides: for shop visitors.