OH allergic to engagement ring!!!

Could you get it dipped in rhodium or platinum or the like?

Hm, perhaps. Her friend of a friend is a jeweller and we were going to go to him for WR's - we'll have to ask his advice ..

Ahhh no...that's totally rubbish. Hope she can get it sorted and it's not the ER ring. Surely it would have flared up before then if she was alergic. I know it may sound stupid, but have you "deep cleaned" the ring since you've been back (like soaking it in water)? to make sure nothing is left on the ring that could cause the irritation?

Hope she/you manage to get it sorted

Its quite common but it suck she can't wear her ring

I think coasting would work, you'd just have to be watchful of the coat wearing off.

How irritating for you both!!! (OOps sorry, excuse the pun!) Hopefully dipping it will help x

This may in fact be why she didn't immediately react - if it was plated in the first place (most white gold rings are) and then it wore off while on holiday, perhaps a combination of saltwater, sand and suncream as you say. It's worth a try getting it re-dipped to see if that helps, but then bear in mind you'd have to get it redone regularly forever!

This may in fact be why she didn't immediately react - if it was plated in the first place (most white gold rings are) and then it wore off while on holiday, perhaps a combination of saltwater, sand and suncream as you say. It's worth a try getting it re-dipped to see if that helps, but then bear in mind you'd have to get it redone regularly forever!

Rhodium is what is used to plate yellow gold to make it white, rhodium itslef contains nickel. Its quite a common allergy, a lot of earrings are made from it too. Maybe go down the palladium route like someone else said, its a lot cheaper and harder wearing!

This makes it sound cheap it was 18ct white gold - do you mean that most white gold rings are plated? With what?

All white gold rings have to be redipped regularly as they will all yellow. It is the coating that keeps them the white gold colour.

There isn't really any such thing as pure white gold.

I doubt it's nickel as my mum is really allergic to nickel and she wears a lot of white gold jewellery.

I had a similar problem with one of my rings. I kept getting water trapped under it and it went really red and itchy. I had to keep it off until it healed completely and then it was fine again. I just make sure I take it off before washing my hands and putting creams etc on.

Sorry - I didn't mean to imply that! My understanding (and I'm not a jeweller, this is just what I picked up from our WR-making workshop) is that white gold itself is a)not very shiny and b)tends to yellow a little over time, so it is usually coated with rhodium or other similar metals to make it shinier and whiter on the outside. The plating does wear off though, and in order to keep it really shiny it needs to be redone every 6-12 months. I haven't bothered since getting married, and my WR (also 18ct white gold) is definitely duller than it was, with lots of tiny scratches. I don't really mind that though, as it just shows it's been with me through everything!

If you coat it, she should be fine. I'm allergic to nickel and have a lot of dress jewellery with it in, so I always paint a layer of clear nail varnish on any part that will touch my skin and it's fine x

You'll have to let me know if you find out what it is as I've had exactly the same problem! Difference is I've had my ring on for 2 years now and it's only just started irritating me! It feels like it's burning and leaves my skin peeling underneath and an awful red mark:-( I'm gutted as I love my ER and wouldn't want to have to change it! I've got a card from the jewellers to take it for a free cleaning so going to try that and hope it works, otherwise not sure what to do!!:-;

Oh no! That's really awful for you.

I'm allergic to nickel. As long as I don't wear much of it and only for short periods of time then I'm ok. However, if I fall asleep wearing costume jewellery or wear a watch (which has nickel in the battery plate) then it flares up and I can't wear ANY until it has all healed and gone out of my system. I once had a rash round my neck in the shape of a string of daisies after falling asleep with a necklace on after too many vodkas. It was pretty but itched like hell!

Maybe if she takes antihistamines and keeps it off to let her system reset a simple clean of it might be enough? I second the thoughts about Palladium. It's from the same family as Platinum and has the same qualities yet lots cheaper. It is lighter in weight but looks the same. My wedding ring is going to be palladium.

My engagement ring was fine but once I started wearing a wedding ring too I used to get something similar. Now as j9 says I take them off to put cream on and I also make sure I dry under them when I wash my hands. I also take them off when I go to bed and it's stopped.

White gold is just plated yellow gold and the coating will wear off and the rings will need redipping every few years.

If it's white gold they do need re-dipping every now and then. White gold is an alloy of yellow gold and other metals. Because the base is yellow they can't get it bright white, hence it's platedin a white metal (dipped) this plating wears off over time and it needs to be redipped. So two years constant wear is probably about right.

I can't wear white gold as I'm allergic to the nickel and my skin strips the plating off. My first engagement ring ( many years ago) only lasted about three months, although the laws have changed for how much nickel can be iincluded now. This time, I've gone for platinum for these reasons. In my previousl life I had to settle for yellow gold because platinum wasn't as readily available for a full piece of jewellery as it is now.