picking a ring - platinum or white gold?

Me and my sweetie are going to pick out a ring soon! I'm so excited! I know I want a white metal, and feel pretty sure platinum is what I want. But it just costs so much more than white gold (though my sweetie said he's willing to spend more to get me what I want 'cause he's a doll). I've been looking at rings online, and the white gold ones look very pretty as well. But I've also read that they grey over time and aren't as durable. I'm not sure what our budget will be as we haven't discussed that in detail yet, but I think no more than $3,000 as I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing even that much on my hand! (I already talked him out of the need to spend two months' salary, that's crazy.) And the ring I saw that I love the most is platinum with a diamond solitaire and a sapphire on either side, and it's $3,500! Yikes! But the same thing in white gold would surely cost less.

Any thoughts on white gold vs. platinum? Anyone care to share on how well their types of rings hold up over the years?

Also, a friend of mine told me that they got her a nice ring, then paid just $30 for both the bands! I'm not sure what metal they got (silver perhaps?), but I think I'd want the band to be the same metal as my ring. And platinum bands look pretty costly. My sweetie is ok with it though, so I know I should just let him do it as it will probably be the only costly piece of jewelry I ever own, but dang, the thought of walking round with $4,000 on  my hand makes me cringe!

Platinum.  No doubt about it.  Get it and you won't regret it!     You won't even think about how much it cost except when people tell you how beautiful your rings are - and even then you will just be happy, not worried! 

Platinum.  Has been worth the extra cost.  Love, love, love platinum!  Just buy it in the states, much better value for money.

I like platinum as well.  Worth the investment for something you will have for the rest of your life

I have white gold for both rings and I don't have any problems with it.  I would have liked to have platnium but we decided that I wanted bigger diamonds.  White gold does not grey it gets yellow and you have to have it replated about every 10 years (actually depends on your body chemicals).  But I am a happy white gold wearer.

You will need to remember that both the engagement ring and the wedding ring should be in the same metal, which may well add to the cost quite a lot.  However, if you got a platinum engagement ring then a white gold wedding ring, the platinum will wear the gold away as it is quite a bit harder.

My vote is for platinum if you can though...it doesn't tarnish nearly as much.

But get it insured!  And take a photo of it, so if (God forbid) you ever got it stolen, the insurance would pay for an exact copy.

Vicky

Ok, you guys have convinced me to go with my first desire after all -- platinum! I've found some online retailers that seem to offer cheaper prices than the stores, but I'm not entirely comfortable buying a ring that I haven't actually seen and tried on in person. Bluenile.com lets you pick the stone's color, clarity, etc., so it probably is a safe purchase. I still want to try rings on in a store to be sure of what I want and the size, but we might order from Blue Nile. Anyone else buy a ring online?

But get it insured!  And take a photo of it, so if (God forbid) you ever got it stolen, the insurance would pay for an exact copy.

Get it appraised by a certified appraiser.  The replacement value is going to be higher than what you pay, and they will take pictures and give you a detailed description so if god forbid something happens you should have no trouble replacing it.

Check out www.diamonds-usa.com that's where my husband bought my ring and wedding band.  The rings are lovely and the prices aren't bad.  They ship all over the world.  The rings came with appraisals done as well as the certificate of authenticity and a full description of the diamond including a diagram.

I love my rings, they are platinum.  We never even considered anything else.  I don't have anything against white gold though and platinum is expensive so get what you can realistically afford.  No need to get deep in debts just to buy a rock, IMO.  Oh, congratulations

June

I have both. My engagement ring is platinum, my wedding ring is white gold. My wedding ring needs to be dipped in Rhodium every 12 - 18 months to get the colour back. It's not much, only £15 a go but still annoying. I've yet to do anything to my engagement ring.

And I ditto the advice on getting it insured and getting a photograph of it.

And don't think too much about how much money you spend on it. Think of it as an investment. I've got a very good ring with very good grade diamond on it and I fully intend on passing it to my legacy*. It's worth it in the end.

*of course... if Jon and I don't make it then I'll get a good price when I sell it.  Hee hee.

I have platinum for both rings and I am very very happy with them. I have to say though the platinum has now gotten scratches on it, but it can be buffed out, i will lose some metal that way, so I have chosen to wait to do that. I have seen the white gold get yellow, it's not pretty. Go for platinum and know that you have a great piece of jewelry that will look great forever!

Also, we went to two different jewelers for the rings, but both were actual stores. I would be weary of picking something without trying it on first.

Bluenile.com lets you pick the stone's color, clarity, etc., so it probably is a safe purchase. I still want to try rings on in a store to be sure of what I want and the size, but we might order from Blue Nile. Anyone else buy a ring online?

Chris bought my engagement ring from Blue Nile, and we're planning on getting our wedding bands from there as well.  He used the platinum three-stone trellis setting and picked his own stones, and each one came with a detailed, certified report.  He was very pleased with the price and the service, and we're both pleased with the quality, both of the stones and of the ring as a whole.  It's just under 1ct t.w. and absolutely gorgeous:



I'm planning to buy a plain platinum wedding band (2mm or 2.5mm) to wear next to it.  That's more than enough bling for me! 

As far as the choice of white gold or platinum was concerned - I'm allergic to nickel, and therefore avoid gold alloys whenever possible, so my choices were basically sterling silver (which is what I usually wear, on earrings and such) or platinum.  It wasn't a hard choice. 

I just wanted to interject that that's a gorgeous ring!

Aww, thanks!   I love it - I've never been one to spend a lot of time thinking about wedding-related things, but somehow it's what I've always wanted, even if I didn't know it!

Or maybe that has something to do with Chris....

Chris bought my engagement ring from Blue Nile, and we're planning on getting our wedding bands from there as well.  He used the platinum three-stone trellis setting and picked his own stones, and each one came with a detailed, certified report. 

That picture you showed is just like one of the rings I was looking at! I also looked at ones like that, but with a small sapphire on either side. It's good to know you had a good experience with Blue Nile, as we may use that too.