Giving Your Jewelry A Makeover Can Save Money

Giving Your Jewelry A Makeover Can Save Money
Plating Yellow Gold Jewelry With A Form Of Platinum Costs A Fraction Of New Jewelry
CBS2 Chicago, IL

(CBS) CHICAGO Did you know, you can give your old jewelry an extreme makeover without the extreme price tag?

You can make yellow gold look like platinum at a fraction of the cost of something new.

CBS 2 consumer reporter Dorothy Tucker shows how it’s done.

You can’t go wrong with a gift of jewelry, but just like clothing, jewelry styles change. And these days many woman are choosing silver, white gold, and platinum over yellow gold.

But instead of spending a fortune on new stuff, you can give your old jewelry a makeover.

“You can make a ring that’s a couple of hundred dollars look like several thousand dollars,” said jeweler John D’Antonio.

How? By dipping it in a metal called rhodium, a form of platinum.

First the jewelry is buffed and smoothed of any dings, and then it’s placed in a degreaser and dipped for about 15 seconds in the rhodium solution.

You can see before and after images to the right.

It’s a popular process at Horwitz Jewelers in Chicago, and owners say it won’t hurt the gems.

“It’s a process where you’re magnetizing the material. But It’s only seeking metal, But it’s not going to seek diamonds, or sapphires, or any precious stones. We’re doing it with pins, we’re doing it with necklaces, whether they have diamonds or not.,” said jeweler Craig Horwitz.

Horwitz may be doing it, but jeweler David Lampert said, “We discourage it.”

Lampert complained that rhodium dipping doesn’t last forever, maybe a year, depending on the piece. And he says re-dipping eventually affects the metal.

“After the first time, It’s very difficult to get it to look really white again make it look white over again, and over time … the piece is just never going to look right,“ Lampert said.

But Cindy Bertran is satisfied with her new white gold pendant.

“I think its more exquisite looking and it really shows up with sapphires and diamonds much better with the white gold,” Bertran said.

And this new look only cost $30.

While jewelers will plate anything you want, they say the procedure lasts longer on items like pendants and earrings that aren’t handled as much.

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