Question re engraving/plating

[diamondjunkie]

I have a question and would love to hear your thoughts.  A friend of mine recently bought a beautiful EC solitaire from David.  His future wife picked out the wedding ring in the pic (not from David) but the jewellers have told them that because white gold is plated, they advise against engraving it on the inside because it may damage the ring.......well, I get that it's plated but I don't understand why it would damage the ring.  The channel doesn't go all the way around and I doubt they would remove enough metal to present a structural problem.  Thoughts anyone?

[clgwli]

I've not been told that ever before.  I haven't engraved anything in a while, but I've been asked for WG items.  I am considering engraving a replacement wedding band if I ever decide what kind I want, but places I've looked at for ideas (not to buy from though, just for ideas) always say they can engrave the white gold bands.  Even my very old channel set band (pre-DBL) would have been engravable if I had wanted it. 

[dovesgate]

Is it solid gold? I don't see how engraving it would compromise the integrity of the band unless it's gold plated over something else.  

I've looked into engraving a white gold band and wasn't ever told no either. I just couldn't come up with something clever or sweet that was short enough to fit.

[Trinkette]

My first wedding set was a pair of custom-designed, hand-fashioned and engraved white-gold rings made by an extremely competent jeweler. There was engraving inside the wedding band. Although, ultimately, I totally beat-up the rings wearing them 24/7, even as I worked around the horse farm, there was never any issue with the engraving inside the band. 

[shiba]

Never heard of that either.  I would ask if it is solid white gold or yellow gold plated with rhodium.  And ask exactly why they think there would be a problem.

[oldmancoyote]

I think I understand...

They would engrave after the rest of the work is finished, therefore through the rhodium layer and exposing the underlying metal, also leaving potentially sharp edges that are notoriously difficult to plate. Does it matter? Well, perhaps not - and if the engraving is on the inside, even if the "unplated" area extends a little, no-one will see it.

[Sanchica27]

My 3mm white gold wedding band and my husband's 6 mm white gold bands are engraved on the inside, no problems at all.

[diamondjunkie]

Thank you!  I figured it was either customer service overkill (ie, let's look like we know what we're talking about when we actually don't), or they just don't like to do it - but it's good to know it won't pose a problem if my friend insists!  Thanks!

[Mrs Mitchell]

Sorry, a day late and a dollar short (and I haven't read the whole thread, so apologies if this has already been said) but I think they'd be concerned about the plating - if you engrave through it, after the ring is finished, it will leave channels and tiny edges that would be difficult to re-plate. I don't think it would be possible to cause a structural problem with engraving on a ring like this one unless it was literally wafer thin and the engraving very heavy.

[Trinkette]

I must investigate this... my WG set was re-plated more than once (one reason I've now made platinum my "white" metal of choice). Again, I never had a problem. But then, the engraving inside the band was done when the ring was first made; and the re-plating was done by the man who created the ring. I'd check-out the engraved wedding band today (I AM curious to take a closer look), however, it is the ONE piece of jewelry that I've lost, most likely, forever.