Rhodium plating of white gold rings is a worldwide, industry-recognised practice in order to create the whitest possible appearance. The plating does wear away gradually; its lifetime is determined by the lifestyle of the wearer but also by the thickness of the plating applied by the manufacturer. Unfortunately some white gold jewellery sold in this country – predominantly imported items – is of a very yellow colour due to the cheap alloys used. This is not apparent when new if the item has been rhodium-plated. However, again in order to cut costs, the layer of rhodium-plating applied is often extremely thin, so it wears off within a very short time. In some cases yellow gold jewellery is rhodium plated on specific parts of a piece of jewellery such as the settings. This lowers the cost of the finished item markedly but is not good practice (two-tone rings should be made in two parts!) and the plating will wear off very quickly. That type of jewellery is inferior, and it saddens us to know that such a poor product is being sold in NZ. We pride ourselves on producing a top quality product, and on educating our customers so they can make an informed choice.